By A Schwarz
As Christians, I
think we often get caught up in this illusion that life is going to be so much
easier for us now that we are part of the body of Christ; that somehow we will
be exempt from the sufferings of this world, but we still experience loss,
heartache, fears, pain, and sorrow all the same. When things come up, I know I
can find myself asking questions like, “maybe my faith isn’t where it should be
at; maybe I’m doing something wrong.” We ask these questions with the
understanding that, “God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. So what is “good” exactly?
I think from society,
we have adopted this idea that what is “good” is something of immediate self
gratification; something that meets our own expectations and requirements. But
our ideas of what we think we want can be radically different from the plans
God has for us. As Christians, we believe in the truth that what is ultimately
good is that which is of God, but all too often, we don’t want to accept it or
give up our own desires in order to experience it. God states that He will burn
away our impurities like a metalsmith does to gold and silver, “He will sit as
a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them
like gold and silver” Malachi 3:3. Though the process leads to our purification
through Him, it can be painful as well. But if He were not to do so, we would
remain that same piece of unusable
metal riddled with imperfections. So with this, can I make the assumption that,
if we are actively living and walking in the Holy Spirit, every trial we face
can be considered as good, as a burning away of imperfections to create in us
something pure and holy and pleasing to God? Maybe not according to our own
definitions, but in following God’s perfect plan for us.
I know for me, my
immediate response to any painful situation is to put up a wall to keep myself
safe from my emotions. I don’t want to feel grief, so in a way I try to protect
myself from it by closing myself off; I lock my emotions away and try to cover
them up with a smile. The world teaches us to harden our hearts in order to
keep us safe from pain, but God promises to “give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart
of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26. We are not called to live a life of fear or isolation,
but rather of joy in God, but that does not mean that we are free from
suffering.
God calls us in 2
Thessalonians 2:16-18 to “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in
all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So how are
we to be joyful and praise God in all circumstances? Again, we so often are
searching for joy in only the obvious places, the places where everything is
going right; everyone is healthy, happy, loved, financially secure, and so
forth; the places WE see as good. But our true joy is through the Holy Spirit
which transcends every circumstance. Even during hard times, we can be assured
that God has a perfect plan that we can’t even imagine.
This past Spring,
there have been many trials God has helped me through that I otherwise would
have drowned in. During this time, I found comfort in some of the Psalms where
David pours his heart out to God in both his times of celebration and despair.
It is his cries to God in those harder situations that seem to reflect how I
can often feel. Overwhelmed and lost, I have to remember to continue seeking
and praising God. “My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to
me all day long, “Where is your God?” ... Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why
so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my
Savior and my God” Psalm 42:3, 5-6a. It is in these times that He says, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2
Corinthians 12:9a.
No matter how
impossible it may seem at the time to find meaning in suffering, He has a
perfect plan; “”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”
Jeremiah 29:11. All we have to do is surrender ourselves to Him, believing that
He will keep His perfect promises.
When I was in middle
school, my grandmother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. After a
few months of treatments, it had only worsened, and the chemo had deteriorated
her immune system to the point where she could only undergo one more treatment.
At this point, she told us that she wanted God to work through her in order to
reach out to those around her, even if it meant her loss to cancer. (She ended
up going into remission shortly thereafter for another five years) Still, I
can’t even grasp that kind of submission, but that is exactly what God calls us
to do in all circumstances, ESPECIALLY the difficult ones. We need to submit
wholeheartedly to Him, and that means giving over that fear of suffering, and
instead, submersing ourselves in God’s unending joy. If we choose to open up to
Him, He will work in amazing ways in our lives for the good of us and those
around us.
Through our pain, God
is our ultimate comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any
trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the
sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our
comfort overflows.”
It is a comfort to know that God, above all we may think, understands every trial we go through. He knows what it is to be man, He created us, and He walked and lived here on this Earth as a man. He knows pain, loss, temptation, betrayal... He is not a distant God, one who sits on a throne peering down once in a while, separate from creation. Instead, He loved us so much that He chose to endure the same sufferings along with greater pain to save us. This does not mean that our trials will be any less, but it does assure us that, through Christ, we can find comfort and joy in knowing that He is still in control and the anchor of our souls.
It is a comfort to know that God, above all we may think, understands every trial we go through. He knows what it is to be man, He created us, and He walked and lived here on this Earth as a man. He knows pain, loss, temptation, betrayal... He is not a distant God, one who sits on a throne peering down once in a while, separate from creation. Instead, He loved us so much that He chose to endure the same sufferings along with greater pain to save us. This does not mean that our trials will be any less, but it does assure us that, through Christ, we can find comfort and joy in knowing that He is still in control and the anchor of our souls.
By A Schwarz
Excellent article. I think all too often, while I speak out against the 'prosperity gospel', I still believe that I'm promised physical comfort and a generally peaceful life. Clearly unbiblical, but it's a natural tendency. That leads to the 'why is God letting this happen to me' attitude if I'm not careful to guard my heart. This article speaks directly to that.
ReplyDeleteI think equally as hard is when I try to comfort someone else in pain. Trying to tell them that God is aware and cares when they are feeling horrible is a tough message to give, particularly to non-believers. But in those times, I usually sense that God is using those moments to call them to Him. We rarely search for God for the first time when everything seems to be going well. But pointing that out can be a challenge.
Well done.