The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him
Lamentations 3:25 (NLT)
Back in the 1990s, there was an art craze that swept the nation. No, it wasn’t Picasso, or Monet, or any of the other famous artists. Instead, it was computer generated artwork. Specifically, it was 3D image artwork. The picture itself just looked like a QR code gone wrong – it was a bunch of dots, swirls, and wavy lines. But, if you looked at it just right, a 3D image would pop out from the artwork. Sometimes it was a battleship, or the Eifel Tower, or maybe the Statue of Liberty. There were literally thousands of different things that one could behold if they just looked at the picture correctly. Then, there are people like me, who could stare at them for hours and see nothing. People would give me hints like “Don’t focus on the picture.” Umm, then what am I supposed to look at? Other advice was “Just let your eyes relax.”
Finally, one day, it happened. I was at Camp Meeting, and they had 3D artwork in the store on the camp grounds. I stared, and stared for about 10 minutes. Suddenly, an image began to immerge. It actually startled me for two reasons: 1) I finally saw something after failing so many times before; and 2) The image was the cross of Christ.
Sometimes in our lives, we feel like God is distant, we can’t quite see Him or relate to Him. We’ve tried all the methods, but in our moments of trial, He just looks blurry.
Notice, the verse doesn’t say that He is “sometimes good,” or “good when He feels like it.” The verse says that “the Lord IS good.” But, also notice the second part, “to those who depend on Him.” It’s this part that is key. Do we depend on Him even when things are going poorly? Do we depend on Him even when He doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers? Do we depend on Him for everything, or do we give up and try to fix things ourselves?
Like the seeing the artwork, a relationship with Jesus takes time and perseverance (stick with it). He’s not a vending machine. We don’t send up a prayer and get our way. Instead, God blesses us through a life-long, daily relationship with Him. And, since He is good, He will do good for us through that relationship. Hang in there.
For a sample of what this artwork looked like, check this one out. Apparently, there’s a shark in there! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Stereogram_Tut_Random_Dot_Shark.png
ChadReisig.org 