I would have titled this when God goes right instead of left because the right hand in the bible represents righteousness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[...] – Michael Patton [...]

This beautiful song is originally a prayer by Blessed Rupert Mayer (Jesuit priest in Munich during the Third Reich) translated to English as doxology. It is now known as “Pater-Rupert-Mayer-Gebet” and goes:

Herr, wie Du willst, so will ich geh’n,
Und wie Du willst, soll mir gescheh’n.
Hilf Deinen Willen nur versteh’n.

Herr, wann Du willst, dann ist es Zeit,
Und wann Du willst, bin ich bereit.
Heut und in alle Ewigkeit.

Herr, was Du willst, das nehm’ ich hin,
Und was Du willst, ist mir Gewinn.
Genug, dass ich Dein Eigen bin.

Herr, weil Du’s willst, d’rum ist es gut,
Und weil Du’s willst, d’rum hab’ ich Mut.
Mein Herz in Deinen Händen ruht.

The prayer above is copied from http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Mayer. They still regularly pray this in his original Church in Munich, now also includes a museum of his works.

Cheers and all glory to God!

Great post, Geekborj.
Perhaps we should think in terms of “Better get right, or get left…because the Lord’s coming back for you”. In the words of a song that used to be around some years back.
What is the name of the beautiful song you posted?

Lord, what You will let it be so
Where You will there we will go
What is Your will help us to know

Lord, when You will the time is right
In You there’s joy in strife
For Your will I’ll give my life

To ease Your burden brings no pain
To forego all for You is gain
As long as I in You remain

REFRAIN:
Because You will it, it is best
Because You will it, we are blest
Till in Your hands our hearts find rest
Till in Your hands our hearts find rest

This is related to the prayer of Father Rupert Mayer (Munich, Germany): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Mayer

I will trust Him.
I will put my son on the altar or whatever my current affection or request. Sometimes He takes my son away and sometimes He returns him to me alive. I will trust Him either way. God demands to know where we stand regardless of any outcome. To live is Christ, to die is gain. Live a life at risk. God is in control. Give all your expectations to Him. Sell out.

It could have been better if the title is, “When you go left while God is right.” This way, the idea is much better expressed in two levels.

Bro. Michael (if i would be allowed to call him so) made two great points here: (1) God’s ways are mysterious but definitely always right. We might not understand them but God always makes sure we do in the end. E.g., the proto-gospel that one man will redeem the race of Adam from the original sin and the entire laws and prophets of the Scripture (OT), culminated and fulfilled in Jesus Christ — the God-Man; (2) We tend to understand as we grow and experience how our Father cares for us with infinite Justice and Mercy — indeed THE infinite Good and our ultimate Goal; (3) Understanding God’s ways by our own view (mixing World-view with God-view) is dangerous.

I think it would be the same for the Church (as personified as Bride in Revelation to John of Patmos, and explained in parable by Christ himself) to learn from experience, and hence Church-history. That within the Church, there are personalities and ideas that go “left” away from the “right” direction that God has directed the Church outset. This we can see from letters of great saints such as St. Jerome to Damasus for example during the 4th century. Hence, mixing mistakes of Church’s human leaders, in political structures and with management of the House of God together with the idea of keeping and teaching/elaborating/clarifying the original faith that was once and for all handed down and revealed through the life and teachings of and in Christ intimately witnessed by the chosen Apostles, is a dangerous task — indeed the work of the Liar and Devil.

More often than not, we feel that the visible Church (THE source/foundation of Truth) have gone astray when God already promised her otherwise under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In fact, historically, the Holy Spirit promised descended upon the Apostles and Christ’s mother and guided the growth of the Church since starting with the inclusion of the Gentiles, not originally or directly taught by Jesus — a fact that the Apostles cannot bear during the time Jesus was with them.

The fact is, when God designed the Church (e.g. Sacraments: “do this in remembrance of me,” “as often as you do this, you proclaim His death and resurrection,” “what God has put together, no man shall separate,” and many others); nobody should change that. What God has made good, nobody should make it bad. Jesus formed the Church from men (“i will make you fishers of men”) and breath unto them the Breath of Life (“receive the Holy Spirit”) just as God formed Man out of the dust of the Earth and breath unto him the breath of life and was originally good.

C.S. Lewis as an example is a good one. We should perhaps remember that he eventually converted to Anglicanism (not other denomination), the closest that he could get to the original Christian culture as intended by God — swaying about…

Powerful post and comments. I’m blessed, thank you all

I went right because I assumed it was the only way to do God’s will for me. But I am realizing that it’s the world’s way, not God’s, and He actually wants me to go left. The process, the road, is equally important. Thankfully He is clearing that up — not as immediately as I would have wanted, but my faith in Him grew deeper than if everything was simple and easy.

Echoing Jim W.: “God is involved, intimately, with us, its just that it is on his terms not ours.”

I agree with j that “we should not ascribe [feelings] to God,” but there are times when He chooses to reveal Himself personally, even in voices and visions. Still we cannot fully understand Him; thankfully He knows this. Since the Word Himself was made flesh and dwelt among us, we can trust Him to stay with us and lead us back every time we go astray.

It might be better stated that the resurrection is *evidence* of his being Lord rather than the reason that he is Lord (consider Php 2:5-11 and Acts 17:31).

Nevertheless, a good point made.

Well done Michael. An excellent counter to the popular Christian mystical gnosticism. His thoughts are not our thoughts, let us seek Him in His Word and let Him teach us about Him. It’s really hard to outline an infinite God.