There is this magnificent rub that happens inside us when we see bad people seemingly rewarded while we're trying our doggoned-ness to be better people.
I know God promises He will never allow us to undertake more than we can bear (I've never fully understood that verse), but there may be days when we wonder if we can hold on even for one more second.
So it should come as no great surprise to us that forms of suffering - even great suffering - may accompany a life entirely devoted to God. I know - not a popular blog topic, but Jesus is our model on this one.
Yet the Bible links joy to suffering (I've never fully understood that verse). That might seem like spiritual masochism, but it isn't. Suffering isn't a virtue; we don't need to worry about pursuing suffering because it will pursue us.
The 'joy' part comes when we understand that suffering and trials are great reminders that we need God - and they are promises that God will meet you in the middle of them.
Follower of Christ, your pain is just as real, your disappointment just as deep, your tears just as profound as anyone's. But your joy is also far more real, your hope far more deep and your peace far more profound.
And be blessed.
4 comments:
Those verses, to me, are part of 'The Mystery' that I am sure God will completely reveal to us face to face...don't you agree PK?
YES I DO!
You probably won't want to post what I am about to say, and that is fine. I'm going to say it anyways.
Part of the reason I am no longer a believer is due to what you have talked about in this blog. If God could snap his fingers and end all pain, sadness, and suffering, why doesn't He? If he loves us all so much, why does he allow us to endure all of these things on a regular basis?
I have heard it all in response to this question:
"It is all part of God giving us free will to choose to seek Him in these times."
"It is not God that creates suffering, it is the devil."
"If you haven't experienced suffering, you can't appreciate joy." (I agree...but not in the context of what I am talking about right now.)
"That is something we are not meant to know. God has His reasons for everything."
And my personal favorite: "I will pray for you."
According to the Bible, God knew everything about us before He created us. If that is the case, why did He create Adam and Eve to begin with?! He knew what the end result would be, so why would He create us and allow us to endure pain if He could have prevented it from the beginning?
I know, free will and all that. But if He is allowing all of this suffering in the name of free will, that is utterly selfish. He wants us to choose to follow Him, but doing so does not end the pain. We continue to suffer until the day we die. Even if we receive our reward in Heaven, why do we have to go through all of this other junk in the meantime?
Sorry if I have offended you, but these are my thoughts on the matter. I will always respect your beliefs and opinions, should you choose to respond.
COURT:
Offended me? Of course not. You'll have to get a whole lot edgier than that to offend me. LOL. Not that you can't get edgier than that. Wink.
I understand the pain and the confusion and frustration on this topic but my answer is likely to be as difficult as your question. I probably won't even be able to adequately wipe away all the uncertainty in a couple of paragraphs here, but at the HEART of this question is where I would like to drill down ...
Our tendency in asking (and answering) this important and complicated question is to look at it from a man-centered perspective: What’s in it for us? Wouldn’t it have just been better for us never to have been created and therefore, never to have sinned? As you ask, "Didn't God know what was going to happen?"
Of course the answer to that, straightforwardly, is "YES." But the answer the BIBLE gives challenges us to take a God-centred perspective rather than a man-centered one, if we can. It causes us to step back and ask an even bigger question: "Why did God create the world at all?"
God didn’t create the world primarily for our benefit. He did it for his glory. He created a world that would display His glory most fully and perfectly.
That begs a follow-up question, which you've already foreseen to pose -- So God is egotistical and selfish then, right?
Again - if we superimpose OUR values on God, then yes, He is. But we are called to take on HIS qualities rather than suggest He take on OURS. In other words, the Bible calls God jealous (check out my blog post on that one not long ago). But we think that's a bad character trait because it is bad in US. But for us to display the Godly kind of jealousy (which we never do) would be what God is after. He is jealous in the aspect that He is crazy about you - He won't share your life with someone else or be in competition with someone else for your devotion. In that sense, He is jealous for us. WE take that attribute and show it imperfectly, even sinfully and then suggest that God is somehow 'sinful' or 'imperfect' when He is jealous. Not so.
The same is true when we say God is egotistical or selfish. He IS what He IS. He is God. All-powerful - all-knowing - all-present --- GOD. Our display of selfishness does not relate or compare to God displaying His glory UNselfishly.
Yes, He knew sin was going to take place and I really cannot explain all the intricate nuances of that. But if God had created a world in which no one ultimately sinned, what aspects of His character could He have shown? His creative power, His loving-kindness, His provision.
But what about His mercy? Or His justice? And would we have seen His power to its fullest if there had been no death and therefore no resurrection?
Romans 9:22-23 explains it this way: "What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory … "
This is a hard question - and this has been a heartfelt, compassionate, loving answer from someone who cares about you, my friend. We cannot fully explain all the secrets and mysteries of the universe. I only know God is many things and at the top of the list is that He is love.
Be blessed.
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