Trusting God for the Truth
Angela's grandmother spent the past couple of days at our house as she was passing through from Iowa to Austin, and although I didn't get to spent a great deal of time with her, I was again reminded what a sweet soul she is and how blessed Angela and I are to have her as a member of our family. First Will, and now Angela's grandmother...I guess I'm feeling led to mention spiritual influences right now.
Eunice is a leader in her church and the spiritual keystone of the family. Just listening to her talk for any length of time gives you the sense that God is the most important thing in her life, and that alone encourages you to seek God on a much deeper level in your own life. There are many people in the world who possess a similar quality. But what sets Eunice apart from others, is the trust she has in God to work out spiritual details with each believer, independent of what she thinks or happens to have experienced in her own relationship with God. She harbors no judgment, and possesses no desire to assign moral correctness to a select few groups in society and withhold it from others. She's truly compassionate, and this attitude is deeply rooted in faith.
She has always been wholly accepting of Angela. She may not have understood homosexuality perfectly when Angela came out to her in teens, but rather than issue immediate condemnation as dedicated Christians often do, she allowed Angela the space to work things out with God on her own. Several years later Angela directly asked her grandmother for her opinion on homosexuality as it relates to Christianity; that is, whether or not she thought homosexuality was sinful. After a six-month period of wholeheartedly studying the Biblical passages that are commonly used to address the issue and praying earnestly about it, Eunice came back to Angela with the conclusion that homosexuality is not sinful, and that it could very well be part of God's perfect plan for the evolution of society. Other Christians may disagree, but no one can deny that this is Eunice's unique experience or that it is an integral part of her walk with God. Rather than rely upon commonly held spiritual opinions that could have easily relieved her of months of work, she studied the issue independently and took it directly to God in prayer, trusting that God would reveal to her the things that she needed to know. She trusted God to work in Angela's life in a similar way. What a refreshing approach.
Not only has Eunice's relationship with God grown deeper as she has sought the truth, but her relationship with Angela has grown deeper as well. And as I have been witness to both, I have become even more awestruck over just how good God can be.
Eunice is a leader in her church and the spiritual keystone of the family. Just listening to her talk for any length of time gives you the sense that God is the most important thing in her life, and that alone encourages you to seek God on a much deeper level in your own life. There are many people in the world who possess a similar quality. But what sets Eunice apart from others, is the trust she has in God to work out spiritual details with each believer, independent of what she thinks or happens to have experienced in her own relationship with God. She harbors no judgment, and possesses no desire to assign moral correctness to a select few groups in society and withhold it from others. She's truly compassionate, and this attitude is deeply rooted in faith.
She has always been wholly accepting of Angela. She may not have understood homosexuality perfectly when Angela came out to her in teens, but rather than issue immediate condemnation as dedicated Christians often do, she allowed Angela the space to work things out with God on her own. Several years later Angela directly asked her grandmother for her opinion on homosexuality as it relates to Christianity; that is, whether or not she thought homosexuality was sinful. After a six-month period of wholeheartedly studying the Biblical passages that are commonly used to address the issue and praying earnestly about it, Eunice came back to Angela with the conclusion that homosexuality is not sinful, and that it could very well be part of God's perfect plan for the evolution of society. Other Christians may disagree, but no one can deny that this is Eunice's unique experience or that it is an integral part of her walk with God. Rather than rely upon commonly held spiritual opinions that could have easily relieved her of months of work, she studied the issue independently and took it directly to God in prayer, trusting that God would reveal to her the things that she needed to know. She trusted God to work in Angela's life in a similar way. What a refreshing approach.
Not only has Eunice's relationship with God grown deeper as she has sought the truth, but her relationship with Angela has grown deeper as well. And as I have been witness to both, I have become even more awestruck over just how good God can be.
posted by Jen Austin at 1:08 PM
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