There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.
—Leonard Cohen
“Oops” is a word you don’t want to hear from a surgeon. Neither do you want to hear it from God.
So how big is your God?
I mean it, really. How BIG is your God?
Let’s recall the creation of the world for a moment. No one would deny that creating our universe takes a big God in and of itself. But what about humanity’s fall into sin? Was that a divine “oops” as if God said, “Didn’t see that one coming! Shucks. Now they ruined everything.” In other words, did God send Jesus as His Plan B to simply clean up our mess?
I know, I’m sounding irreverent. But I’m not. I’m asking you, how big is your God? Does your God say “oops” now and then?
I’m decidedly not suggesting that God is at fault for creating or allowing sin and evil. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Sinners are fully responsible and guilty for their sin. Period.
But if He is God from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2), then nothing can happen that escapes the backdrop of His sovereign plan (Ephesians 1:10–11). We don’t know exactly how this all fits together. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8–9) and if we could figure this all out, we would be God.
Somehow humanity’s fall into sin was not a divine “oops” and Christ’s coming was more than just a repair job. Somehow creation, fall, redemption and restoration are all according to a plan that was meant to produce a better world than the original and make God look all the more glorious.
Perhaps that is why it is in the cracks of this world where we see the light, God’s light, shining. Just ask Moses, Ruth, David, Peter and Paul.
The lives of Crossroad students are also cracked. But God is shining light through those cracks by His Spirit and Word—through you! Instructors, every letter you write and every lesson you correct helps those cracks light up with the brilliance of God’s mercy and grace. God is using you not to repair students’ broken lives, but to restore them to bring more glory to God than you ever thought was possible.
That’s also how it works in your life. And in mine. The light comes in through the cracks.
When I think of my life this way, I see a much bigger God than I could have ever imagined, a God who never says “oops.” I’m sure glad He’s in charge and I’m grateful He gives us a role to play in His mighty and inscrutable plan for the world where His light continues to shine through the cracks.
Dr. H. David Schuringa serves as the president of Crossroad Bible Institute.