I have learned a lot about God over the years. \u00a0And I trust what I have learned. \u00a0I trust that God is good. \u00a0I trust that he loves me. \u00a0I trust that he is wise. \u00a0These are things I know about God and his character. \u00a0I share these truths with people when they are hurting, or confused, or questioning. \u00a0A lot of people I love are hurting right now. \u00a0<\/p>\n
So I share what I know. \u00a0But knowing shouldn’t be confused with living. \u00a0The following is an excerpt from a blog I posted in 2009…<\/p>\n
It is important to know what you believe. That is why we study, talk about, listen to, and chew over God’s word. \u00a0We grow as we learn more and more about God’s character and our relationship to him. \u00a0And that’s good. \u00a0But that’s not where it ends.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Eventually we all have to live what we have learned. \u00a0Walk through what we understand. \u00a0That’s where the rubber meets the road. \u00a0And the question is: \u00a0When the rubber meets the road what happens? \u00a0Does the tire hold up? \u00a0Does it perform? \u00a0Can we live with what we know and understand? \u00a0Or more importantly, can we live with what we don’t know and don’t understand?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Since that post I’ve learned something else. \u00a0I’ve learned that there is a big<\/em><\/strong> difference between knowing<\/em>\u00a0and living.<\/em><\/p>\n
I know about tornadoes. \u00a0I understand what they are, and what they do. \u00a0I have heard stories of the destruction, the loss, sometimes the death. \u00a0I have seen photos. \u00a0I know and I could tell you about tornadoes.<\/p>\n
But there is a difference…<\/p>\n
A difference between knowing and visiting<\/em> a place that has been struck by a tornado. \u00a0To see the destruction firsthand. \u00a0To walk through a yard where a house once stood. \u00a0To look up at sharp sticks that were once trees, but are now stripped of leaves and branches. \u00a0Turning in circles seeing the intimate pieces of lives strewn about in the open. \u00a0This is different than knowing about tornadoes through stories or photos.<\/p>\n
And still there is a difference…<\/p>\n
There is a difference between seeing tornado damage in person and… watching the clouds form. \u00a0Tracking the radar. \u00a0Responding to the sirens. \u00a0Huddling together while the wind creates a noice and force beyond imagination. \u00a0Hearing windows smash. \u00a0Feeling the house tremble, shake, give way.<\/p>\n
There is a difference between knowing<\/em>, seeing<\/em>\u00a0and living<\/em>.<\/p>\n
I find it easy to trust what I know about God in the abstract.<\/p>\n
It can be more difficult to trust God when I see hardship firsthand.<\/p>\n
But can I trust God while I live<\/em> difficulty, pain, hurt?<\/p>\n
That is where the rubber meets the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have learned a lot about God over the years. \u00a0And I trust what I have learned. \u00a0I trust that God is good. \u00a0I trust that he loves me. \u00a0I trust that he is wise. \u00a0These are things I know about God and his character. \u00a0I share these truths with people when they are hurting, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2O0qX-dx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.choosingcomedy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}