On Saturday, I shared a very interesting and rewarding conversation with my soon-to-be five year old. Just to give a bit of background to set up the story, one week ago today I tore up my right hand pretty bad in a soccer match. Though it is healing quickly (praise the Lord) I remain in a brace. I took my son, Spencer with me to my brother Jon's house to pick some grape leaves so my wife Melissa could can some pickles. On the way there, Spencer said that he was sorry my hand was hurting. I (in my usual manly way) told him not to worry about it, that I would be fine. He said it was hard for him not to worry about me. Bear in mind, this is the same son who told me, as I was leaving for work one day 2-3 months ago, to be careful and not to get run over by a car. Anyway, by the ensuing silence, I gathered that he was thinking about it for a few moments. Then suddenly he said, "Dad, God could make your hand hurt so that He can show you mercy." If my jaw didn't drop, I'd be surprised. And I'd be lying if I said that it didn't bring a tear to my eye. To think, though it may not have been a perfectly sound statement of God's providence, and it may need some qualification, that statement means that Spencer (at least in his mind) understands (even if only for that moment) that God works all things together for our good.
Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
Romans 9:22-24 "What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?"
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