Patrick's Paragraphs -- He is Holy, He is Love

Thursday night I despaired of life.

Lauren was suffering. She had injured her deformed legs in therapy. Her seizures were too many to count. She vomited her supper onto her pillow.

My eldest daughter was frustrated as she was helpless to stop the suffering. "I know life is not fair, but this isn't right."

As my wife and daughter cried over Lauren she said clearly, "Anna. No." and wiped the tears from Anna's face.

I went to the bathroom and screamed my prayers of frustration into a rolled up towel.

Did God count those tears?

There are many things we can know about God. Two specific things that scripture reveals about God's nature are that He is holy, holy, holy and He is love.

Because He is holy, He cannot sin and does no evil. Because He is perfectly holy, there is none like Him. Because He is holy, He must also be just. Because He is holy, evil will not prevail forever. Because He is holy, He is glorified. Because He is holy, He is to be feared. Because God is love, he must love.

Because God is love, He is full of mercy. Because God so loved the world, He gave us His only begotten Son Jesus. I am persuaded today that it is God's nature of love and holiness that motivate His actions toward us.

While He may have every right to glorify Himself, He does it in such a way that it is both holy and full of love. The world was made for Jesus. The world was made by Jesus. He was supreme in glory before the foundations of the universe, and His love was perfect before the world was formed. Yet, God created the universe so that His love would be manifest and His glory displayed. Christ's Bride was created by God for Him that He might have an object of His love. Such great love is amazing.

I am not saying that He created the universe for man, nor am I saying that man is the center of the universe. But our God is so great that He created man to love, and the universe as the setting for this divine and glorious love affair.

It is because of His great love that we who believe have been chosen, and given faith, hope and love. It is because of His great love that we are destined to be conformed to His image and share in His glory. It is because of His great love that all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to His purposes. It is because of His great love that we are being conformed through sharing in His suffering to the image of His Son Jesus.

The world is not fair and it certainly is not right. Indeed, all of creation groans under sin. But I am convinced today that God is love and He is holy, holy, holy.

I believe, although I die, I will see my daughter walk and proclaim with all of creation that Jesus is LORD to the glory of God the Father. I have faith that by His great love I will see my Redeemer and Lauren will stand with Him on that day. "We will dance on streets that are golden; the glorious Bride and the great Son of Man. Every tribe and every nation will join in the song of the Lamb!"

Because of His Holy Love, He counts every tear, and they will be redeemed for joy!

September 2006 Issue of Outreach Update