Saturday, July 7, 2012

Before the Altar (part 27)


If God hears these pleas and knows when I am doing well or when I am in sorrow or pain, why does God let me suffer and not just allow me to go through happy times all the time? If I were God, and I had such a wonderful person as myself (I hope the reader realizes this is tongue in cheek), then I would certainly want me to be happy all the time. Ah, but…and this is big….is my happiness based on my circumstances or is it based on something greater? If it is the former, then I am basing what I call happiness on how I am affected by something I have no control over and of which I really have no knowlege. After all, I cannot make rain, and I cannot make the sun shine, I don’t care how technically advanced I am. If the basis for my happiness is based on something greater, then the whole basis for my happiness is hope. (Nehemiah 8:10) And it is this hope that will carry me farther than anything I can imagine. I will be able to smile through bad economies, higher taxes, cancer, family losses, because I know there is something greater, something far better, far deeper than whatever I go through. Romans 5:3-5 says that suffering produces patience, among other things. Suffering is therefore a growth phase, merely a means, not an end. God still hears me (Psalms 31:22) and He will not let me suffer forever. He is merely displaying patience for the exact moment that will do me the best good. (Psalms 34:4-6, Psalms 40:1, Psalms 66:19,20) If I think its tough, I just start thinking about God in the role of a parent that has to watch His children suffer.


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