We will understand it better by and by!

One of the hardest things for anyone to do is to accept things we don’t understand. Like many of you, I was ‘forced’ to accept this axiom and its application to life on many occasions. Accepting some things while admitting we don’t understand them doesn’t happen overnight, but, like most adults who have lived long enough to have wisdom, our ancestors would often chant this tune: “By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home, we'll tell the story how we've overcome, for we'll understand it better by and by.” (Text: Charles Albert Tindley Music: Charles Albert Tindley; arr. by F.A. Clark) Both Elizabeth Elliott and Amy Carmichael have been credited with the phrase, “In acceptance lies peace.” Those are some hard words to even ‘accept.’ The Serenity Prayer puts it this way: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.” (Reinhold Niebuhr) When you really think about it, accepting things we don’t understand really means that we voluntarily and willingly acknowledge our finite capacity, admit there are transcendent truths that will always be larger than life, and ask and allow God to be Sovereign and Provident-as He is and will always be. Finally, Proverbs 3: 5-6 states: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Only by doing this can we have the, “Peace that surpasses all understanding,” while we are here on earth. (Philippians 4:7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYxihV4IjSw