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"But now thus says the Lord, He who
created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.'" (Isaiah 43:1)
As many of you know, my daughter has a very rare genetic disorder (partial
trisomy 9q, partial monosomy 21q). Her disorder is so rare, they think only one
other person has been recorded to have it. Every single cell in her body has
the same genetic "mistake," which probably happened right after conception.
But it wasn't a mistake. It wasn't an accident. It didn't just happen. It
wasn't a fluke. It wasn't one-in-a-two-billion. It was a gift.
Yes, I said a "gift." Faith receives everything from the Lord's hand as
gift. For if God the Father did not spare His only begotten Son, how much more
will He freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:32)
It's easy to look at fortunate things as a gift. We escape an accident, or
get a good grade, or my beautiful wife tells me that she loves me. Gift. Gift. Gift. That's
easy. But what about when bad things happen? "Shall we accept good from the
Lord's hand and not adversity?" (Job 2:10)
Gift. Good things are gift from the Lord's hand. Bad things are gift from
the Lord's hand. How do we know? Holy Baptism. Holy Communion. The Word.
Holy Absolution. His gifts deliver the Cross to us, where our salvation was
won. The Cross says that He refuses to treat us as our sins deserve. No, He
has put them all on Jesus. The worst thing that God could do to us, He did to
His Son in our place. In Christ, He has only goodness for us.
Think about that the next time you are sick or the next time you think of
death. Can we think of these as a gift? Yes, we can! For in Christ, God has
only good things for you.
My idolatry is that I used to get upset that my daughter wasn't the way I
wanted her to be. She didn't meet my criteria of what she should be. He didn't
make her the way I wanted her to be. I could blame sin. I could blame God.
Either way, she just didn't fit my expectations. How sad that God didn't
consult me before making my daughter!
But, my idolatry totally missed the Gospel: He made her the way He made
her. Sure, the Fall is the cause of sickness and death, yet He made her His
way. Forming every cell in her body, caring for how each was constructed,
loving her each step of the way. No accidents, He knew about that extra part of
the ninth chromosome and how it attached itself to the twenty-first chromosome.
Planning it all out from eternity, He did what was best for her.
How do I know? The answer is not because she's "special" but because she is
baptized. From the creation of the world, He wouldn't have it any other way for
her than He did it. He loved her that much in Christ.
This is not some pious, "God turns all lemons into lemonade" religion. This
is the way of faith: God won't do anything that isn't for our good. He refuses
to after Calvary, after the empty tomb, after Jesus' ascension. Sophia's
Baptism says that. Your baptism says that too.
So, the devil didn't make my daughter to be sick. She is the way she is that
the Son of God might be glorified in her (John 11:4). Everything that He has
done for her, He has done for her good. It's not that He CAN work all things
out for her good, but that He actually DOES work all things out for her good - even things we think are
bad.
Will she be "better" in heaven? There is no more sin and no more death in
heaven. But better? How can she be any "better" than she already is in Christ
Jesus? He loves her uniquely as she is. He doesn't need her to be smart to
love her. He loves her uniquely in the sending of His Son. So, we'll leave how
she'll be in heaven to God the Father, who loves Sophia in Christ uniquely.
There's just one Sophia in all the world. He wouldn't have it any other way
than that. There is just one you in all the world. In Christ, He wouldn't have
you any other way than He made you.
And yet, He has even more for us than we could possibly imagine in Heaven. More than we could grasp, figure, or even comprehend with the word "better" or "perfect." Heaven now, in Christ. Heaven soon when Jesus comes again to judge the quick and the dead.
Some say such things "weren't supposed to be" this way for my daughter.
That she wasn't supposed to be "demented" or "disfigured." Maybe things
weren't supposed to be this way. I'll let them talk to God about that.
Faith says that today He's doing all things for our good. All things - good and
bad - are in His hand. All things - for the good of Sophia, for your good, even
for my good.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him..." (Job
13:15a)
Edited on: May 12th, 2005 3:09 pm
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I am listening to Unwell
matchbox twenty
Release Date: 01 July, 2003
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