God has had me thinking about suffering and persecution,
again. I’m going to be honest here; I
don’t want to suffer. Nope. I don’t even want to be unhappy. I want to have adventure, but I want to be
able to push “stop” “eject” “rewind” and control the volume, too. I know in my head that God uses
suffering. He makes us to know Him more,
to be more like Him, to be refined from the worldly desires and crutches that
keep us from the pure fire of desiring His glory. He uses the way His people suffer (with grace
and faith and rejoicing) to be a witness to the world. But I’d still rather not go through it. Part of me always insists that God could do
those things in other ways. He’s
God. He could do things
differently. But this is the way He has
made the world, made us, written this story.
Jesus asked for another way, besides the cup of suffering. Even Jesus went through the excruciating
agony of the cross. So it seems like
God’s pretty committed to the suffering theme.
And it is actually a privilege to get to experience some things that
Christ did. This goes back to how we
know Him more through suffering.
Anyway, that’s the background: I have suffered, though not much. I know that God uses suffering. I know it’s likely He isn’t done sending me through
painful experiences.
So when I’m coming up on the next part of my life, but I
can’t see what’s going on, I start to seize with fear. I get really afraid that it’s coming. What I can’t see is something bad, something
painful. If people are keeping secrets
from me, it’s probably because they’re handling things so dreadful that they
are even trying to shield me, but it will affect me anyway, and everything will
come out, and I will hurt. Again.
I don’t know exactly what to call this reaction. It’s definitely fear. And it is fueled deeply by distrust. And what I ought to do in a situation like
that is something completely different, and almost entirely absent. On my best days I might be able to reason
myself into a theology of faith: I should trust God. I should know that He is doing good. I should desire His glory in whatever way He
wants to make it known. But my feelings
have never caught up.
If I trusted Him, I would see a problem and rejoice with
anticipation at how God is going to work it out. Or I should be on the edge of my seat, maybe
with my chest searing at the pain of it, maybe with tears stinging my eyes, but
watching all the same for the way God is going to explode forth with a revelation
of His glory (even if He doesn’t do what I would consider “working it
out”).
That’s what I’m hoping to see in my life someday. I figure, objectively, this means I’ll go
through a lot of hard things. I have
practice surrendering control, clinging to God when things don’t make sense and
I feel so hurt that it borders betrayal.
And I think God will build on those lessons to move me deeper towards
His heart, to form in me a heart of joyful trust.
It’s nice, I guess, to have something you know you’re not
good at, but you’re working towards.
"Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience; And patience, experience; and
experience, hope: And hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us." ~ Romans 5:1-5
To God be all glory.
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