Daily Devotional for April 14, 2022

We have a beautiful little dog named Morgan.  She is named after arguably greatest actress of all time, Morgan Fairchild.
 
Morgan is a Dorkie – Dashaud/Yorkie mix.  She is one of a kind.
 
Morgan loves me.  I am her human.  It’s different for Shannon.
 
Whenever Shannon walks by, makes eye contact, or tries to pick Morgan up, she bares her little fangs and growls as if she is about to go into attack mode.  And while Morgan has never bitten Shannon, I’ve often wondered if she was about to.  It is the strangest thing.  
 
We don’t know why Morgan acts this way with Shannon.  She’s never been abused or mistreated.  Shannon has never been anything other than loving, but whenever I am around, Morgan will have nothing to do with her.  But, when I am not around, Morgan will snuggle up to Shannon and look at her with adoring eyes.  
 
It’s only when I am present that Morgan acts possessed.  Again, I don’t know why, and I probably never will.
 
That’s how life works.  There are a lot of things I don’t know and probably never will.
 
Why did God make mosquitoes?  Why is the only food that really tastes good, bad for you?  Why does Howard always try to rest his eyes when I am preaching?  Why do some unscrupulous people seem to get ahead?  Why does anyone listen to rap music?  Why do some people pretend kale qualifies as food?  What possessed the first person to look at a raw oyster and say, “I’m going to put that in my mouth?”  I’ve got a lot of questions. 
 
Getting through this life with integrity and a legitimate holy purpose is not about having all the answers.  It’s about staying faithful, even when we don’t have all the answers. 
 
In the gospel of Matthew, when Jesus is hanging from the cross, the last words he spoke revolve around a question: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Matthew 27:46)
 
Some people believe Jesus was simply quoting Psalm 22.  I think something else was going on.
 
Jesus had almost been beaten to death, had spikes driven through his body, was dehydrated, and slowly asphyxiating.
 
I believe, in that moment of extreme pain and hopelessness, Jesus wasn’t simply quoting scripture.  He was really asking why.  
 
Jesus didn’t have the answer.  But he knew it was God’s will, and that was what enabled him to die so that we can live.
 
As followers of Christ, we admit we don’t have all the answers.  But we do have the answer that transcends all the questions.  It’s Jesus.
 
This Sunday is Easter.  Come to church and don’t expect to get all the answers, but come, ready to rejoice that someone fully human and fully God, who did not have all the answers, trusted God enough to see it through.
 
Prayer:  Dear Gracious Heavenly God, thank you for Jesus and his unwavering trust and faith in you.  Help me to be like him.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.
 
In the end, Jesus is all that matters.
 
Also, now that I’ve had a few minutes to think about it, I believe the reason Morgan loves me so much is because that little dog sees I have a pure soul – Shannon, not so much.
 
I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins