Too Easily Confused

You are driving through a town you’ve traveled through many times before; but this time there are signs ahead: “Detour!” Reluctantly you turn off your familiar route. The arrows mark the turns clearly—left, right, left, right. You are seeing parts of the city you’ve never seen before. Fascinated by the new scenery, you become distracted. You miss a turn and in a few moments you realize are totally turned around—disoriented and confused.

Your first reaction may be to curse the Department of Transportation. “Why do they have to work on the road when I want to use it? Why don’t they make the signs bigger? Why don’t they have people out here directing traffic?”

Or perhaps this has happened to you: You show up for work and there is a notice that the company will soon be switching over to a new software application. A workshop to introduce the new program is scheduled for next week. The announcement promises greater ease of use and increased productivity; but you were here the last time management decided change things. You remember how difficult it was to do your work with the “improved” system—all the extra hours you had to put in just to accomplish what you were originally doing. You still remember things about the old system that worked better.

Or, how confusing is this? An annoying health issue has finally led you to make an appointment with the doctor. The doctor orders a battery of tests. All the tests disrupt your life for a couple of weeks. Once all the results are in, the doctor shares the news…and it’s not good.

It’s a confusing world. Just when we think we have everything figured out, something happens to throw it all into question. That is, if you begin to question what kind of God we serve.

As we move through Holy Week and recall the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, may the evidence of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and grace save us from the despair that is born of confusion. Let us hold fast to the truth Paul shared with the Romans: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8).

Yes, God’s grace is truly amazing!