from JB..."Everything's Ok!"
“It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope.”
Lamentations 3:27-29
What do you do when you’re down and out, when life’s trials keep grinding away at you till it feels like there’s nothing left and you’re drained to the point of saying “I just can’t take it anymore”. Then “more” just keeps on coming anyway – and it seems like God either isn’t listening or isn’t there? As Christians we are told to “walk by faith and not by sight.” (Hebrews 11) From personal experience, however, I would offer that what at first seems fine “in theory”, can later translate into something totally different in practice. When adversity gets persistent and personal, walking by faith can be tough.
Our family experienced a “strong dose of the tough times” during 2005. Between many unexpected, intermittent trips to the hospital, losing a good paying job of 30 years, and dealing with ongoing, aggravating illnesses – including one family member having a stroke, and some equally intense legal issues - saying it was a “hard year” for us is a gross understatement. There were, literally, multiple, severe crises that arose every single month. At one point I can remember thinking and then saying out loud: “You know, having to deal with problems is one thing – but feeling like “God’s been using us as speed bag” is a totally different matter. (A speed bag is a piece of training equipment used by boxers to refine rapid punching skill.) I also remember finally reaching a point of being so totally angry and frustrated I shouted out loud, “Enough God, ENOUGH!”
At the time though, God in His infinite wisdom must have decided enough wasn’t yet enough. The trials continued - and at probably the lowest point, Dave, our daughter’s 25 year old fiancée died suddenly, unexpectedly! It was 3 months before their wedding. We found out later, that his death was instantaneous and mostly likely caused by injuries from a previous car accident. This was a disheartening blow to everyone in our family, and was by far, some of the worst pain ever. How do you find comfort in the fact that one minute, even though there have been struggles, the future still looks hopeful – and then in an instant, all hope is gone, replaced by super intense hurt? In these times prayer and compassion are indispensable – and we are so thankful for the response from our family in Christ –outside and inside the walls of our house.
In tough times like these though, only God can truly heal. No matter how mature the believer, hard times – this side of heaven - are inevitable. Being a Christian and being saved doesn’t guarantee immunity from adversity. What it does guarantee though is the hope and promise that trials endured will have been endured for a reason. For us, even through all of our pain, we “got it”! No matter how bad it got or how bad it ever gets, because we accepted Christ, God is never out to destroy us. He uses even the absolute worst circumstances for our good and His glory - right where we’re at. Have you gone through your own trials lately? If you have, thank God for refining you into His “silver” – but also know that silver can only be refined by fire and that only He knows exactly when it must stop.
When is silver fully refined? It is finished when the refiner sees his reflection in the molten metal, not enough heat and it’s still impure, too much and it’s ruined. Only God knows when “enough is enough”. For others to see God’s image in you, affliction is sometimes necessary. Everything will be ok at the end. If it isn’t ok….it isn’t the end!
posted by aperitis | 07:10
4 Comments:
Many years ago, I was having some difficulties of my own, when a friend from Williamport sent me this poem. I have lost the paper that it came on long ago, but the words have always resonated in my head, since I first laid my eyes on these lines. Reading your post prompted me to do a Google search today,in order to find it. It is my perfect response to your very personal contribution to our discussion. As children of God, we must never lose sight of the "Big Picture!" I would guess that this poem was written by a person of faith!
"Don't quit"
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victors cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit!
I think we have to be cautious in what we assign directly to God. Recognizing the sovereignty of God is one thing, placing all manner of moral and natural evil at His feet is another.
For example, what of 9/11? God did not precipitate this event, but He remains sovereign over all. How? Sovereignty implies absolute mastery, and clearly God retains the ability to stop, influence, alter and otherwise control the events of 9/11. That he chooses to allow something contrary to His nature (evil) is a demonstration of His sovereignty, but He is not the author.
Why does God allow such things? The reasons are many, but two rise to the top: 1) this is a Fallen world where the free will of Man is allowed to proliferate in all its promise and horror, and 2) God brings about the salvation and sanctification of Man in this Fallen world. To expunge moral and natural evil, which is the author of the hardship JB describes, would be to walk away from His Creation, to assign Man to the scrapheap, a failed experiment. And God does not fail.
With respect to Aslan's comments I concur that:
- We should be cautious with what we assign directly to God.
- God is absolutely soverign in what he allows to enter into our lives.
- God does not fail.
Walking away from His creation and (maybe?) inferring that God assigned man to the "scrapheap" & walked away as a failed experiment, however, was not a real or perceived intent for the original post.
Personally, I profess to being a born again Christian any yes I acknowledge God's soverignity in my life.
Just as described in Job 2, however, I also acknowledge that God only has final say in what Satan can and cannot do. Whether an individual has gone through trials like Job, 9/11, or what I/we experienced (as related in the original post) I again/also say that when adversity gets persistant and PERSONAL walking by faith can be tough and it can SEEM like God either isn't listening or isn't there. It did for me. Yes, even then, I know He was there. Being only human your view can get "distorted" at times like these. Mine was - and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I also admit that as tough as it was during that time and as I said earlier "we got it". I gave thanks then.
I give thanks even more so now that God allowed those trials to come into my life/our lives.
Salvation comes in an instant but sanctification takes a whole lifetime. That's where the "silver refining" comes into play.
Additionally, I believe too that what John 3:16 says is true - but once you're saved God loves you too much just to let you stay as you are.
So whether the world, the flesh, or the devil is what causes hardship, it may be a moot point - and no, although God isn't necessarily the author He does have final say on what will or will not happen. - Job 19: 25,26
No offence taken, none intended.
Hopefully that provides some further clarification though.
JB
JB, I, too, meant no offense. I was clarifying an issue of sovereignty that, in my opinion, is understood instinctively by Christians but is alarming to the secular world: that His sovereignty does not include God actively bringing moral and natural evil into our lives. God “allows” evil, He does not precipitate it. You indeed have selected the perfect reference for this Divine action in Job. Those who assert that allowing evil is as bad as doing evil do not recognize the allowing evil can result in good, while doing evil results in evil. They utterly fail to appreciate their own existence, because humanity is an exercise in allowing evil; the alternative, since God cannot do evil, is that we be "scrapped." Hence that language in my earlier post.
Thanks for your response and God bless!
Post a Comment
<< Home