This is a question that has plagued the human race since its inception. Countless books and commentaries have been written on the subject. In seminary, I wrote a very long paper on this subject. Perhaps what I say in this particular blog, in six paragraphs may help you where you’re at today.
First, I believe it is only through our faith that we can begin to understand the complexities of God’s nature and accept the truth as his Word reveals. The Bible makes it clear that God is good (Nah. 1:7) and is opposed to evil (Jer. 44:4; Zech. 8:17; James 1:13). Scripture says, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him” (Ps. 92:15). Murder, pornography, abuse, and addiction exist because people have chosen to turn away from God to pursue self-centered desires instead of blessings offered through faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, God is sovereign over evil just as he is over good. He could intervene in every human tragedy and trial. Sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn’t. God should never be credited with evil. Each person is accountable for their own sin despite God’s sovereignty. Timothy said, “This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things [speaking of the Christ] are clear enough” (1 Tim. 3:16, MSG).
When we talk about suffering someone will always point to Roman 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). It is reassuring to know that when God does allow suffering he is accomplishing something good out of it: perseverance, maturity, Christlikeness, a godly character; while assuring us that we are his beloved and precious children. I like to hang onto these promises:
Job said, “But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction” (36:15).
“Now, this is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid, because I have reclaimed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through the sea, I am with you. When you go through rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flames will not harm you” (Isaiah 43:1-2, GW).
Someday when we get to heaven the entire picture will be revealed. It is important to keep an eternal perspective when we go through trials and suffering. Mediate on this verse: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
Dr. J. Carl Laney, one of my professors at Western Seminary once said that God recognizes that sometimes greater glory will come to his name by permitting evil rather than disallowing it all together. It is hard to understand from a human perspective why God allows human suffering for the purpose of bringing greater glory to himself. But if the purpose of our lives is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31) then we can accept suffering in order to exhibit more adequately the greatness of our God.
“Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete. If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.”
[James 1:2-7, TLB]
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Are You a Carrot, An Egg, or a Coffee Bean?
By Anonymous ~
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?
How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean.
~ ~
We can be a coffee bean -- through the power of the Holy Spirit.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?
How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean.
~ ~
We can be a coffee bean -- through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Why Do I Have to Suffer?
When we feel imprisoned, we ask, Where is God?
One night, Carol was purging for the third time in one hour. All of a sudden, she felt a piercing, stinging sensation in her throat and she began gagging. She looked down in the toilet bowl and witnessed a puddle of blood. It’s okay, she thought, I’ve bled before (denial). But the blood kept coming. What am I going to do? Who can I tell? Nobody knows my horrible, shameful secret.
So she didn’t tell anyone. For the next two days, Carol suffered and existed in agony. On the third day, she checked into the emergency room. When I woke up, the doctor told me I had a very large ulcer in my throat that was on the verge of rupturing, which could lead to death.
This is a picture of both physical and emotional suffering. We each have our own story. Why does this all-powerful God allow us to suffer so, especially if He is a loving God? The Bible doesn’t spell out all of His reasons: “How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods!” (Romans 11:33, TLB). But the Bible does give us insights into how He uses troubles for good.
Peter goes so far as to insist that suffering is our calling. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:22).
God has a specific objective in mind for our suffering. He knows exactly the intensity and the duration that’s needed to fulfill His purposes. Through the whole process, whether it’s days, weeks, months, or years, we have His promise. “The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10). Oliver Wendell Holmes understood this truth when he wrote, “If I had a formula for ridding mankind of trouble, I think I would not reveal it, for in doing so, I would do him a disservice.”
Scripture doesn’t say we won’t pass through rough waters. What does God promise us in Isaiah 43:2? “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
God will be with us in those waters. It doesn’t say that we won’t have bad days. It doesn’t tell us that rivers won’t roar at our feet. Scripture tells us that they will not overwhelm us. There will be fiery places. But because of God’s great love, we will not be consumed in the fire.
“When life is good we tend to have no questions, but when life is bad we have no answers.” –Mike Mason
[this is an excerpt from "I'm Beauiful? Why Can't I See It?"]
One night, Carol was purging for the third time in one hour. All of a sudden, she felt a piercing, stinging sensation in her throat and she began gagging. She looked down in the toilet bowl and witnessed a puddle of blood. It’s okay, she thought, I’ve bled before (denial). But the blood kept coming. What am I going to do? Who can I tell? Nobody knows my horrible, shameful secret.
So she didn’t tell anyone. For the next two days, Carol suffered and existed in agony. On the third day, she checked into the emergency room. When I woke up, the doctor told me I had a very large ulcer in my throat that was on the verge of rupturing, which could lead to death.
This is a picture of both physical and emotional suffering. We each have our own story. Why does this all-powerful God allow us to suffer so, especially if He is a loving God? The Bible doesn’t spell out all of His reasons: “How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods!” (Romans 11:33, TLB). But the Bible does give us insights into how He uses troubles for good.
Peter goes so far as to insist that suffering is our calling. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:22).
God has a specific objective in mind for our suffering. He knows exactly the intensity and the duration that’s needed to fulfill His purposes. Through the whole process, whether it’s days, weeks, months, or years, we have His promise. “The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10). Oliver Wendell Holmes understood this truth when he wrote, “If I had a formula for ridding mankind of trouble, I think I would not reveal it, for in doing so, I would do him a disservice.”
Scripture doesn’t say we won’t pass through rough waters. What does God promise us in Isaiah 43:2? “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
God will be with us in those waters. It doesn’t say that we won’t have bad days. It doesn’t tell us that rivers won’t roar at our feet. Scripture tells us that they will not overwhelm us. There will be fiery places. But because of God’s great love, we will not be consumed in the fire.
“When life is good we tend to have no questions, but when life is bad we have no answers.” –Mike Mason
[this is an excerpt from "I'm Beauiful? Why Can't I See It?"]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)