For Better or For Worse? Doing the impossible: LOVE

Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

On 21 June 2001, a dark day for a successful family man that also worked for the NASA's Johnson Space Center. Russell Yates had five children. Their mother, Andrea Yates, had drowned four sons and one baby girl in the family’s bathtub in Houston, Texas.

Andrea Yates, 36, could face the death penalty if found guilty of killing her five children. Mr. and Mrs. Yates were married for eight years. Mrs. Yates suffered from postpartum depression after the births of their two youngest children, and was also distraught over the recent death of her father. These events sparked another lapse of depression. '

'I've got really two tragedies: one is my children and the other is my wife,'' Yates, 36, said. ''What happened was just incomprehensible . . . . One side of me blames her because she did it, but the other side of me says she didn't.'' "She wasn't in her right frame of mind. She loved our kids. Anybody that knew her knew that." ' 'I've got to remember she wasn't herself. . . . And Andrea, if you see this, I love you.'' (taken from watching CBS News)

Can something good come out of something so tragic? I will let the one that reads this message determine this answer. This is a tough message to write as I struggle within to pull something good. However, I didn't have to pull anything good out of it. It's already there. Can you find it? Do you see the good?

Perception is everything. To perceive is to pay attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a conclusion or come to the realization of events or facts that has taken place in one's own environment. When one has the right perception without being deluded with false information or false ideas, one can have a clear perception to handle accurately the situation that occurs around one's own environment. The focus and perception must have God centered first. One can not change what happens to them but one can change how one thinks and believes about those situations one encounters.

Two people came together eight years ago and were married. For better or for worse are vows that both had made in a commitment before God and to each other. The worse has happened and notice what he said. "And Andrea, if you see this, I love you.'' No matter what she had done he still stood by her and told her he loved her. It reminds me of this verse, 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

No matter what a person might do in one's life God will always love. David knew the love for he expressed it in his writings of Psalms. Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. I am not condoning what she did was right. I am thanking Mr. Yates for his example. Whether he is a Christian or not, his behavior and commitment is an example to everyone. The question remains within this message: Can one maintain the love one has after the tragedy this man has gone through? It's a matter of one's own perception.

Do you know that when one may sin in one's life that God will also continue to love? 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.Just as Mr. Yates is patient with his wife and I'm sure he doesn't want his wife to perish.

The point of this message is not to say to keep sinning, so that God's love will keep flourishing. The point of the message is to continually trust in God even when you do wrong and to know that His love is unfailing. Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.

One should examine to see if one could have the attitude of Mr. Yates and be able to continue to accept and to love another person. Second, one should trust in the Lord when tragedy strikes and not to blame God. Job didn't blame God. Third, recognize that when one sins, one can be forgiven. Finally, remember that it might seem impossible to forgive or to love but with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Keeping in mind with this attitude one can do anything and to forgive and to love one has a much happier life because God gives that peace that passes all understanding.

When tragedy strikes in one's life just remember how to look at it with God. Allow God to work in your life. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Love others no matter what happens and be able to forgive, BECAUSE OF HIM, He continues to love us and continues to forgive us. How much are you willing to love?