Another Battle Won: Life is ironic...

I've been thinking a lot lately about irony. As a teacher, it is actually a concept that we try to help students recognize in writing, and sometimes it can be difficult to explain. The "pat" explanation is that irony is an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been expected. Students, understandably, can have trouble with this. Let's be honest, a LOT of people have trouble with this.

Then, about a week ago, the photo above came across my facebook page and it really started my hamster wheel turning.

Today as I waved goodbye to my students at the end of another school year, irony was again on my mind. It was the last day of school, and the first day of summer break! For many of my friends, it was the last day they would teach and the first day of their retirement!

Saying goodbye to our kids one last time.

The LAST day of one thing always brings the FIRST day of something else. We often lose sight of how what is the ending is also the beginning. It's a wonderfully ironic event....the ending is actually the beginning! Why, even the ending of life simply marks the beginning of eternity.

All of a sudden I started to realize it's not just life that is ironic; by the world's way of thinking, we serve a God that seems to be an expert on irony.

He uses the weak to defeat the strong. (2 Cor. 12:10) He chooses surrender as the way to win. (Matthew 16:24-27) When we become "slaves" to Christ, we experience true freedom. (1 Cor. 7:22) He brings the OIL of joy out of the ASHES of mourning. (Isaiah 61:3) He uses the foolish things to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:27) He uses giving as a way to provide for all our needs. (Malachi 3:10-12) And He brings LIFE everlasting out of the grave through the sacrifice of His own Son. (1 Cor. 15:21)

Ironic, isn't it. To give us hope, the Bible directs us to go down a very strange "road" that begins at the town of Suffering, then takes us through the little towns of Perseverance and Character before we ever reach our destination of Hope. (Romans 5:3-5)

Yep, to the world, my God might seem to be ironic. The world has as much trouble figuring things out as my students have had trying to understand the irony found in O'Henry's writings. This isn't surprising. The Bible tells us that the world can't accept the things of God because it sees them as foolishness. (1 Cor. 2:14) The world desperately tries to explain and figure out....but it can't. It's a bit like an ant trying to explain space travel or brain surgery. No matter how smart we are, we can't come close to the infinite wisdom...and infinite LOVE...of God. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

As I said, irony has been on my mind a lot lately, especially this one thought - some say that realizing you don't know everything is the beginning of wisdom. Ironic isn't it. Those who are most certain that THEY know what to do and can handle it all, are the least likely to have the answers. (This could explain a LOT when it comes to some of the decisions made in government - by BOTH parties! The problem is that we keep putting "smart people" in charge!)

I'm sure you can think of a lot more examples of irony in scripture. The cool thing about irony is this, it doesn't mean a contradiction, it simply means that it wasn't what we expected. Glad I serve a God who is a master of irony. He just keeps taking what looks like a mess to me and turning it into a miracle.