"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God." Job 1:21-22
Beloved, there are so many things for which we have no answers. When we see someone suffer in ways that to our human mind are needless or even when we endure hardship, the inevitable question "why?" comes.
It is as if that because God exists, He should provide us with lives in the lap of luxury or at minimum, a pain and inconvenience free life. We take no thought of the possibility of a larger picture, most often because we are consumed with out own situation.
I visited with a dear sister last evening who has endured a great deal of pain and suffering as a result of a medical situation. She asked members of the body to pray for her last Lord's day due to the fact that her flame was beginning to flicker in the midst of such difficulty. She shared with me during our visit that she told a medical professional about my plans to visit with her. The therapist was shocked, relating that she could not imagine her minister coming to visit her under any circumstance. Our sister continued on telling her about the warm, loving and supportive reception she received when she attended worship this past week. The therapist was stunned, citing that nothing like that has or likely ever would happen at her church. She went on to say how self absorbed and uncaring the people there had been during her time of need. Our sister simply stated, "You are in the wrong church."
Now I'm not church bashing, but simply making the point that trials provide testimony. It remains to be seen what the Lord will do in this situation, but had our dear sister not been suffering, she likely would not ever have met that particular medical professional nor made this particular profession to anyone. In the midst of her suffering, her light shone forth and was an encouragement to someone else.
God does not cause our suffering but it certainly can be used to encourage others and glorify Him. Paul famously wrote, "there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." 2 Cor 12:7-9
The next time you find yourself suffering and perhaps failing to understand why, access your faith in Him who made you. Surely it will not last always and some good, somehow, somewhere at some time will come of it.
Loving Like Jesus,
Lee
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