"Stuck with Us?"

 

“Stuck with Us?”

 

In a high school English class structural ambiguity, a term for a sentence or phrase that can have the same words but be understood in different ways, was discussed. (Sometimes the French phrase “double entendre” is used to describe this grammatical feature.) To illustrate  I came up with this example: “What are you doing here?” Depending on which word is emphasized as well as one’s tone of voice it can be perceived as a request for information, an accusation or an insult. These possibilities show the need to be careful with how we speak (including our body language) to minimize the potential for conflicts.

Here’s another one: “God’s stuck with us.” Taken one way we might conclude that He has to care for us whether He wants to or not; interpreted differently it shows He’ll be with us no matter what the circumstances might be. Which sounds more like the God of the Bible?

In His last meeting with His disciples the night before His crucifixion Jesus said to them, “You did not choose me, but I chose you….” (John 15:16, emphasis added). In effect He was saying, “I’m not stuck with you—I’m choosing you because I want a relationship with you.” Then about six weeks later just before returning to Heaven and sitting at His Father’s right hand He told these same men, “I will be with you always….” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis added). So He’s not stuck with us—He’s stuck with us!

There may be times we’ve felt abandoned and alone by family, friends and even God (see the recent posting “Through It All”). But He’s seen us through, not because He had to against His will but because He chose us as His own and said, “You are my friends….” (John 15:14). Solomon wrote, “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you….” (Proverbs 18:24, TM, emphasis added). Jesus is that True Friend who’s stuck with us and can be counted on to be with us—and we with Him—for eternity.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan