Good Morning MABC family and friends,
In our small group we are working on our marriages doing a study called the Art of Marriage. Last night’s session had a speaker who mentioned 1 Corinthians 13, the so called “Love Chapter.” He said that a good test was to substitute your name every time the word love appears. Love is patient, love is kind would become Rick is patient…oops. Blew it! Rick is not very patient. Hence, a written Monday Rewind instead of the video one. I will get it up hopefully later this evening.
Yesterday we talked about lives falling apart. How do we handle circumstances when our life seems to be falling apart? Well, there is often another question that accompanies that one. It is “Why do good people suffer?” That is a difficult question to answer. There is no perfect way to respond. So, let’s take a look at that idea of good people suffering and see what we can make of it.
There are some misleading ideas out there that I want to tackle. The first one is that all suffering comes from God. Wrong! Satan would love for you to believe that. Since the beginning of time, Satan has sought to deceive us and discredit God. In the Garden of Eden he convinced Eve that God was trying to hold her back, keep her down. They didn’t need to obey God because if they ate of it they would be like God. Satan is a liar. In fact, the Bible says he is the father of all lies. All suffering does not come from God.
The second idea is that suffering comes because of the sin committed by the one suffering. Partial truth here. There are times when we suffer because of poor choices we make. We will talk about accountability next week, about owning our sin. But to say that ALL suffering is the consequence of our sin is not completely true. I told you yesterday that Sherry’s sister was killed by a drunk drive. Anita was on her way home from Christmas shopping and the lady who hit her was fleeing from Walmart where she had been caught stealing $50 worth of Hello Kitty merchandise. $50! Anita’s husband and daughter as well as her siblings suffered the consequences of the drunk driver’s choices. The lady driving also caused severe consequences for family as she was married and the mother of young children. Hard to be part of the family when you are in prison.
So, does God cause suffering? I don’t know that he causes suffering but I know he uses it for our own good. He uses suffering to push us to the limits of our faith. The only way for our faith to grow is to exercise it just like I am exercising patience today. And as our faith grows a little in suffering it becomes stronger. Then we have to have a little more suffering to get to the next growth stage and then the next and the next. We talked about running and weightlifting yesterday. You have to do one more mile or one more rep to get stronger and then your body adapts and you have to do one more than the last time. Rinse and repeat. All things work together for the good of those who are called to his purpose (Rom 8:28).
Please remember that James said we are to consider it an opportunity for joy when we suffer. Know that God is allowing it because he loves you and wants you to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Chris (2 Peter 3:18). In addition, shift your perspective on suffering. Quit seeing it as a negative experience and try seeing it in a positive light. You see, sometimes we may feel like we are beyond God’s reach for the things we have done and the consequences we have endured. Instead try seeing them as a loving Father redeeming you and restoring you all the while saying…This is going to hurt me a little more than it hurts you.
Be joyful in whatever comes your way this week. If I have enough patience there will be a video on FB before the night is over!!! Rick is patient, Rick is patient, Rick is patient, Rick is…
Rick Neubauer
