Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A Picture of Grace



Last week, Eliana and I "read" Peter Spier's Noah's Ark for the first time. The wonderful illustrations (which do not include the above) do all the "talking." I think it was the first time the devastation really sank in with Eliana. When she saw pictures of other animals standing outside the closed ark deep in water she finally realized how many more animals died in the flood than were saved. I suppose her response was typical--"That's not fair."

But praise the Lord we do not get what is "fair!" If that were true, then there would be no hope for any, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) We can choose to focus on the "bad" things that happen in the world as a means of trying to question God's character, or we can look at the many blessings in our lives and wonder in utter amazement, "How is it that good things happen to sinful people?" Let us thank the Lord our God, who is mysteriously well-pleased to lavish upon us His love and grace.

Looking at an illustration of the ark at sea, I thought I would try a lead-in to point out Noah's great faith in God again. I asked Eliana how she thought she may have felt being on that ark, adrift at sea, rain falling from the sky, surrounded by water and no land in sight for so long. Her response?

"Wet."

No comments: