12 Jun Poised in balance between two paradoxes
My van brimmed with small children as we neared the kindergarten, their sweet chatter providing a needed contrast to my irascibility. In my heated mental struggle, Scripture’s contradictory statements were not making it any easier to pin down the truth. Suddenly time stood still. And I heard “This will be your definition of the truth,” as the following was emblazoned in gold letters across my windshield,
“All truth is a dynamic
poised in balance between two paradoxes.”
That definition burned into me as a picture filled my mind. I saw a male gymnast performing on the rings, his athleticism a mesmerizing expression of strength and control as he powered his body through the air, completing one feat after another. But he suddenly lost his grasp of one ring, and the vision ended with him hanging limp and helpless, suspended in the air.
When we say, “God is Love,” but let go of “God is Holy,” we hang limp and lost upon the air. The power of the truth will be lost on us, the moment we let go of the paradox that feels like a contradiction to what we most believe.
Love will do anything to save us, but little to protect us from the consequences of our choices.
Jesus is fully God, yet also fully man..
Almighty God is sovereign but submits to the authority of His own laws.
In eternity the future already exists, but in every present moment no choice is dictated by the future.
God never stops fighting for us, even though He already knows whether we will become His or not.
God hates suffering, sin and evil, but He let’s hell in.
He promises to protect and save, but He allows chaos to shred our lives.
These conflicting, seemingly mutually exclusive realities are the paradoxes: the gymnast’s rings. In the tension between the two we witness the spiritual prowess of those who know their God and prove His power to make all things new, when heartbreak, injustice and crushing loss come crashing in.
All hell was breaking loose, but with resolute calm he took chaos firmly by one hand, holding fast to the divine promise with the other., powering through,. For the joy that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)
That which feels like it has the power to destroy our life comes to give God the opportunity to make all things new.When it’s time, your coach will bring you to the rings and give you a boost, his whisper tender-stern in your ear, “Do not let go.”