The circumstances of our life are a funnel. The slippery slopes and the rocky terrain propel us forward.
We tend to get lost among the rocks. As we slide along, experiencing “all the things” of life, we can’t help but grab the jutting slopes of circumstance, trying to stop, to make sense of it all.
How can this slope lead to the same place as that rocky crag? How can pain and joy be instruments of the same purpose?
The Personhood of Christ is the thing we are catapulting toward. It is eternal. It is not swept away by the tides of time. He is unmoved, consistent, and true.
All of our circumstances are funneling us toward being conformed to the image of the Son. We can fight against it, close our eyes, or imagine a false alternative, but the truth is that all things are working together to direct our hearts toward the steadfast love of Christ.
As difficult circumstances arrive, our comfort and peace lies in this truth: that God holds all things in the palm of his hands. Each thing that comes into our lives is shaping us. Like a sculptor with his chisel, God is chipping away all that does not look like Jesus.
It is not peril into which we are being called, but love. If we pursue the truth and see our circumstances as a part of the funnel, a journey toward the truth and toward Christ, that will not explain everything along the way. But the destination will make sense of the journey.