Lessons from Caregiving, #5: It's OK to not "just accept it"

"Evil is negation; love and beauty are the realities." - Augustine

(This post is part of a series. For previous posts in the series please see #1, #2., #3, and #4)

We are wise to never forget this fundamental truth: God created a perfect world. We live in a fallen world.

Some of the things we encounter on a daily basis, that feel like ultimate reality, just "the way things are", are reflections of God's design. The beautiful scenery on my walk yesterday. A husband and wife holding their first baby. Justice prevailing. Life.

Other encounters may seem equally real, equally part of the fabric of nature, but are instead a negation. The weeds that choke the life out of the garden. A stillborn child. Justice delayed. Death.

Among the negations is the damage to biology that causes diseases like dementia. The gut-punch that we feel when we get bad news reflects a soul-level knowledge that we don't always take time to verbalize. One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that it's not only ok to say it, but it's crucial to my spiritual health that I never forget: 

This wasn't how it was meant to be.

Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, He uses all things for our good and His glory, Yes, He has a purpose in this. The "rest of the story" of the Creation and Fall is this: Redemption and Restoration. Our hope lies in the One who came to keep us from living forever in a fallen world. 

But when we are living in the depths of the results of the Fall, it does our souls good to acknowledge the reality that something is Wrong. We don't need to rush to "just accept it". It's ok to pray for God to reverse the biological effects of the Fall in our loved one's life. It's ok to seek treatment and work for a cure. It's ok to be mad at the disease and at Satan whose trickery precipitated the Fall in the first place.

Then, and only then, can we embrace the rest of the story: For the Christian, acceptance only comes through the cross. That means we look the worst reality in the face, call it for what it is, and then say, "Jesus is bigger than this." Then look into the empty tomb to find the redemption and restoration on the other side.

This is My Father's World
And Let me Never Forget
That though the wrong seems often so strong
God is the Ruler Yet