Shown in the image is a small model. It is about reactions. It obviously isn't meant to be very encompassing, and it also puts things in quite black-and-white categories, which I know life isn't. But when I thought of it one day, I liked the way it challenged me, and it made me think about how balanced some parts of me were.
Two instances, and two reactions.
The instances are events that happen to us in life- good things (+) and bad things (-).
The reactions are our reactions to God- "You are good" (*) and "Why, God?" (?)
The two instances and two reactions form a total of four possible results, as visible on the grid. We'll look at each of them. First let's speed through the obvious two.
Good things happen (+) and we say to God "You are good." (“*”) means we are happy: :-)
Sounds straightforward, and it is. It's normal, it's natural, right? So nothing extraordinary here.
Bad things happen (-) and we say "Why, God?" (“?”) means we are sad: :-(
Again, this is normal. From people who don't give God much thought in their life, certainly in the media, this is pretty much the only one we see, too (For example, headlines such as “How could God let this earthquake happen?”). It's a valid question, and a predicable response. Onto the more interesting two.
Good things happen (+) and we say "Why, God?" (“?”) means we are looking at grace: X
I'm not promoting lowly-worm philosophy, but keeping our heads screwed on means always remembering that we don't deserve to be in the presence of the perfect, flawless God. Instead of taking it for granted, we can realize how much grace God has given us! Wahoo! (For simplicity I have made the assumption here that the person responding with the question to God does not suffer from a low sense of self-worth.)
Bad things happen (-) and we say to God "You are good." (“*”) means we are worshiping: <3
Finally, the most challenging. If a war has broken out, that doesn't change who God is. God changes the world, not the other way around. Here we find what can only be pure worship- Focusing beyond the immediate and surrounding physical and emotional world to look at and recognize the steady and eternal goodness of God. Note that worship does not happen because we ignore trouble- it happens in spite of, because it knows God is bigger than trouble.
See another post about Choice...
