Jesus is the Man of Sorrows. He swallowed pain, and swallowed it whole. Should we never taste a morsel of that pain? How can we say we know Him, if we refuse to live through some of that sorrow?
A few posts back, I ended with this… “In the New Testament, Jesus told His disciples that the blind man (in John 9) was not born blind because of his sins, but he was born blind to show the works of God. Yes, in this instance God would be glorified through this man’s healing; but healing isn’t the only way for God to be glorified…”
For the Christian, we must value God above all. We know that our eyes have really and truly been opened when our values change (an example of this change is loving Jesus more than you love life). Now let me be very clear when I say this… when you come to the point when you can see and trust that God has a masterful purpose for your affliction/suffering, you’re in a few great positions. First, you’re in a position to be brokenheartedly bold and strong in your witness. And when you are bold in your witness for Christ, or when your hope never ends-even when the sky is falling on top of you… people stop and pay attention, and God is glorified! And here’s another great position to be in…
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4
We can help others make it through their times of trial even when can’t see it themselves. His purpose in our lives is to bring us to the position of absolute nothingness, so that we will recognize that all we have of value in this life is God and God alone. You see, we’ll never get to experience God’s faithfulness unless we’re cast into times where we have nowhere else to turn; a place where we’re completely at God’s mercy for a breakthrough. As I write this I think about how I heard someone on the radio many years ago, say that our healing will not come until we are absolutely, one hundred percent sure that it was Jesus who healed us! I think that was the beginning of the greatest lesson of my life…
Seeing our life the way God sees it will help us to avoid discouragement in the times when life becomes mysterious. This is what I’ve learned so far (and it’s on one of the slides on my Home page), “God, in and through loss has a kind, unshakeable good purpose for you.” – Oh yes He does 🙂 But surely, I am still in the school of sorrow.