here is a poem written by a fifteen-year-old girl named dora. when she was eight years old, her dad was a missionary in panama in a little village, trying his best to help the people there come to know GOD and to serve them and help them – he and two other missionaries. then some guerrillas from across the border in columbia kidnapped her dad and these two other men. this had happened over seven years before she wrote this poem. and when she wrote it they didn’t know if these men were still alive. they didn’t know if they would ever see them again. this little girl who has grown up all those years without her dad, most of us would say she has a right to be bitter, to lose her dad trying to serve GOD. many would say she ought to run the other way from a GOD like that. but dora made a choice. and she wrote a poem.
there once was a man a man i once knew,
who told me stories every night and laughed at my jokes and held me tight.
he told me “don’t quit. always fight the good fight.”
he said, “love the LORD with all your heart. serve HIM with all your might.”
he begged me, “do right.”
there once was a man, a man i once knew who taught me how to tie my shoe.
and he smiled gently at every picture i drew.
he told me, “when you start something, don’t stop until the job is through.”
and he said, “i love you.”
there once was a man, a man i once knew.
i saw him in my dream and it made me scream.
i called out, “daddy!” but he told me nothing. he had nothing to say.
for what can you say when you’re so far – so very far – away
daddy? i said. then a voice echoed inside my head as i laid quiet and still on my bed.
again the voice, “your daddy made a choice, a choice to serve ME with all of his might,
to not give up, to fight the good fight.
he’s doing a job for ME and it’s not yet through. just remember, I love you.”
there’s now is a man, a man I now know.
HE lived and HE died to save men from their sins. HE made it possible for us to be born again.
i know, because my daddy told me so.
and even though HE’s no longer here, my GOD will always be near to fill in the gaps and show me which way to go.
i miss my dad so much but GOD has a plan. so for now i'm just going to wait and watch the work of his hand.
there once was a man, a man i once knew.
he’s now just a memory, slowly fading away.
“dead or alive?” you ask. “i don’t know,” i say.
so i beg you. please pray. pray that every night my daddy knows i whisper, “daddy, i love you.”
there now is a man, a man i now know.
every day – every day – HE becomes more real to me, every day i grow. every day i pray that my love for HIM will show.
i have made a choice to serve HIM with all of my might
to not give up, to fight the good fight
here on earth i may not see my dad again.
that’s all right.
because when my life on earth is through i’ll finally hear them both say, “my child, i love you.”
i don’t know what pain you’ve gone through. i don’t know what you’re going to go through but ask yourself the question. where am i going to end up? where is the end of the path away from GOD? is there hope there? is there forgiveness there? is there peace and courage there? i would urge you to say, “having now heard something more about the love of GOD and understanding a bit more about why there is evil and suffering in this world, now can i turn and approach HIM in my grief and allow HIM to pick me up and hold me tight and never let me go.” i urge you to make today the day that you make that choice. just like dora did.
just a thought from the front porch…
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
the answer to the question of suffering…
JESUS is the answer to the question of suffering. as one philosopher said, “JESUS is there sitting beside us in the lowest places of our lives.” are you broken? JESUS was broken like bread for you. are you despised? JESUS was despised and rejected by men. do you cry out that you can’t take anymore? the bible says JESUS was a man of sorrow. HE was acquainted with grief. did someone betray you? JESUS was sold out for a measly thirty pieces of silver. did you love someone and then have them walk out on you. JESUS loved and then at the end HIS best friend denied him and walked away. does GOD enter into your own private hell? yes, HE does. yes, HE will. corrie ten boom writes this while setting in a nazi concentration camp, “no matter how deep our darkness, GOD is deeper still.”
the really amazing thing is this. JESUS CHRIST is not just some friend who can merely empathize with you and sit beside you in your suffering. if you have put your trust in JESUS CHRIST, he lives inside of you and therefore your suffering is HIS suffering and your pain is HIS pain and your tears mingle with HIS tears. HE says, “I’ll give you the peace and I will give you the very courage that you need.”
psalm 34.18 (niv), the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. are you crushed in spirit? GOD says, “I offer to save you from this, to draw good from it and bring you to heaven.”
just a thought from the front porch…
the really amazing thing is this. JESUS CHRIST is not just some friend who can merely empathize with you and sit beside you in your suffering. if you have put your trust in JESUS CHRIST, he lives inside of you and therefore your suffering is HIS suffering and your pain is HIS pain and your tears mingle with HIS tears. HE says, “I’ll give you the peace and I will give you the very courage that you need.”
psalm 34.18 (niv), the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. are you crushed in spirit? GOD says, “I offer to save you from this, to draw good from it and bring you to heaven.”
just a thought from the front porch…
Saturday, February 5, 2011
peace and courage…
we have two decisions in this matter of pain in our life. we can decide to turn to bitterness or to turn to GOD for peace and courage. our choice.
we’ve all seen examples of this, where people have gone through virtually identical sets of suffering, very similar experiences in life. one woman may lose a child to a drunk driver and turn chronically bitter for the rest of her life. another person came to him and worked through her grief and then founded mothers against drunk drives to help other people going through this.
as one philosopher said, “i believe all suffering is at least potential good – an opportunity for good. it’s up to our free will to actualize that potential. not all of us benefit from suffering and learn from it because it’s up to us. it’s up to our freewill.”
our choice is either, to run from GOD. and what is the up side to that? or we can turn to GOD.
JESUS himself says in john 16.33 (nasb), these things i have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. in the world you will have tribulation but take courage. i have overcome the world. HE says the two things we need, after we turn to JESUS CHRIST, is peace to deal with our suffering at present and courage to deal with suffering in the future. JESUS says, “i can give you the very things that you need.”
GOD’s ultimate answer is not an explanation, it is the incarnation – JESUS CHRIST fully GOD and fully man, coming in to our experience to live and die, to live among us.
i could never love a GOD who was distant, disinterested, detached and who just watched the suffering from afar. i could never love a GOD like that. but i cannot help but love a GOD who says, “i will enter into your suffering, i will enter into your pain. i will come into your world and i will suffer a death on the cross so that you might have eternity in heaven.” i can’t help but love a GOD like that.
just a thought from the front porch…
we’ve all seen examples of this, where people have gone through virtually identical sets of suffering, very similar experiences in life. one woman may lose a child to a drunk driver and turn chronically bitter for the rest of her life. another person came to him and worked through her grief and then founded mothers against drunk drives to help other people going through this.
as one philosopher said, “i believe all suffering is at least potential good – an opportunity for good. it’s up to our free will to actualize that potential. not all of us benefit from suffering and learn from it because it’s up to us. it’s up to our freewill.”
our choice is either, to run from GOD. and what is the up side to that? or we can turn to GOD.
JESUS himself says in john 16.33 (nasb), these things i have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. in the world you will have tribulation but take courage. i have overcome the world. HE says the two things we need, after we turn to JESUS CHRIST, is peace to deal with our suffering at present and courage to deal with suffering in the future. JESUS says, “i can give you the very things that you need.”
GOD’s ultimate answer is not an explanation, it is the incarnation – JESUS CHRIST fully GOD and fully man, coming in to our experience to live and die, to live among us.
i could never love a GOD who was distant, disinterested, detached and who just watched the suffering from afar. i could never love a GOD like that. but i cannot help but love a GOD who says, “i will enter into your suffering, i will enter into your pain. i will come into your world and i will suffer a death on the cross so that you might have eternity in heaven.” i can’t help but love a GOD like that.
just a thought from the front porch…
Friday, February 4, 2011
a perspective of heaven…
let me give you a picture of heaven. it’s not to deny the pain you go through in this life. you may go through 72 years on this planet in chronic pain everyday of your life. but in heaven after 552,282,323 days of perfect bliss in the presence of GOD almighty and an eternity more awaiting you if someone came up to you and said, “how has your existence been?” you would say, “it’s been unbelievable. it’s been great. heaven is wonderful. to be in the presence of GOD is just unbelievable.” and they say, “but wait a second. didn’t you have a tough time before you got here?” and you think back and say, “you’re right. i don't want to minimize that. i did suffer a lot. but when i put that in context, in light of GOD’s incredible outpouring of goodness and love and joy that HE has infused into my life, those bad days of my worldly existence are not even worth comparing with the eternity of joy that i have and will experience with GOD!”
there’s a radical statement made by a CHRISTian woman who had lived a life of depravation and suffering and at the end of her life she said this, “in light of heaven the worst suffering on earth – a life of the most atrocious tortures on the planet, in the light of heaven, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” that is the perspective of heaven.
it’s like the story a british pastor named galvin reed tells about meeting a young man. when this young man was just one year old, he fell down a flight of wooden stairs and shattered his back so he’s been in pain his whole life. but the young man made the audacious statement that he thinks GOD is fair. the pastor said to him, “how old are you?” and the kid says, “i'm 17 years old.” how many years have you spent in the hospital? thirteen years. the pastor was incredulous and said, “in light of that, you think GOD is fair?” and the kid’s response, “GOD has all eternity to make it up to me.”
and the truth of scripture is HE will. HE promises a time when there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering when we’ll be united with GOD in perfect harmony forever. i love the words of 1 corinthians 2.9 (niv), no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM. it will put everything into context.
just a thought from the front porch…
there’s a radical statement made by a CHRISTian woman who had lived a life of depravation and suffering and at the end of her life she said this, “in light of heaven the worst suffering on earth – a life of the most atrocious tortures on the planet, in the light of heaven, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” that is the perspective of heaven.
it’s like the story a british pastor named galvin reed tells about meeting a young man. when this young man was just one year old, he fell down a flight of wooden stairs and shattered his back so he’s been in pain his whole life. but the young man made the audacious statement that he thinks GOD is fair. the pastor said to him, “how old are you?” and the kid says, “i'm 17 years old.” how many years have you spent in the hospital? thirteen years. the pastor was incredulous and said, “in light of that, you think GOD is fair?” and the kid’s response, “GOD has all eternity to make it up to me.”
and the truth of scripture is HE will. HE promises a time when there will be no more crying, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering when we’ll be united with GOD in perfect harmony forever. i love the words of 1 corinthians 2.9 (niv), no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love HIM. it will put everything into context.
just a thought from the front porch…
Thursday, February 3, 2011
it is going to get better…
our suffering will pale in comparison to what GOD has in store for HIS followers. i don’t say this to minimize your pain or your suffering. i know many of you have gone through much things worse than i ever have.
but look at this verse and remember it was written by the apostle paul who suffered beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, hunger, thirst and homelessness – far more pain than most people ever go through.
he says in 2 corinthians 4.17 (niv), for our light and momentary troubles [this was a guy who five times in his life was whipped by a whip made of leather and bone that shredded his back. he was whipped 39 times at five different times, three different times people took rocks and beat him to a bloody pulp and this guy says, light and momentary troubles] are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
he’s saying, “when i suffer, especially since i'm suffering for JESUS CHRIST, the glory that awaits me far outweighs whatever i'm going through.”
look at romans 8.18 (niv), i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. how can we understand that? let me give you an analogy that might help.
let’s say on january 1, 2010 that you had a horrible day – the worst day of your entire life. you went to the dentist for a root canal and half way through it the anesthesia wore off and they didn’t have any left and you’re in horrible pain. then you get in the car and drive home. you crash your car, totaling it. and to make it worse, you crash into your wife’s car. so both cars are now totaled. your stock market portfolio takes a nosedive. your wife gets sick. your friend betrays you and spreads false rumors about you. this was the worst day you ever had.
but then imagine every other day of the year 2010 was absolutely fantastic. on january 2 your rich uncle you didn’t even know about decides to give you your inheritance in advance and he gives you a check for 42 million dollars. you get promoted at work to the job you always dreamed of having. the new york times puts your photo on the front page under the title “person of the year”. your first child is born and he’s healthy and strong and your wife insists that he be named after you. your marriage is ideal. you’ve never felt better in your life. you take a two-month vacation on the beach in tahiti.
so the next year, 2011, a guy comes up to you and asks, “how was your year 2010?” what are you going to say to him? “it was great!” but then the person says, “but didn’t you tell me once that the first day of the year was really bad for you?” and you say, “”you’re right. i don't want to minimize that. it was a very difficult day. but when i look at the totality of the year, when i put everything in perspective it was a tremendous year. the 364 tremendous days far outweigh that one day of pain and suffering.” it just sort of fades away.
just a thought from the front porch…
but look at this verse and remember it was written by the apostle paul who suffered beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, hunger, thirst and homelessness – far more pain than most people ever go through.
he says in 2 corinthians 4.17 (niv), for our light and momentary troubles [this was a guy who five times in his life was whipped by a whip made of leather and bone that shredded his back. he was whipped 39 times at five different times, three different times people took rocks and beat him to a bloody pulp and this guy says, light and momentary troubles] are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
he’s saying, “when i suffer, especially since i'm suffering for JESUS CHRIST, the glory that awaits me far outweighs whatever i'm going through.”
look at romans 8.18 (niv), i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. how can we understand that? let me give you an analogy that might help.
let’s say on january 1, 2010 that you had a horrible day – the worst day of your entire life. you went to the dentist for a root canal and half way through it the anesthesia wore off and they didn’t have any left and you’re in horrible pain. then you get in the car and drive home. you crash your car, totaling it. and to make it worse, you crash into your wife’s car. so both cars are now totaled. your stock market portfolio takes a nosedive. your wife gets sick. your friend betrays you and spreads false rumors about you. this was the worst day you ever had.
but then imagine every other day of the year 2010 was absolutely fantastic. on january 2 your rich uncle you didn’t even know about decides to give you your inheritance in advance and he gives you a check for 42 million dollars. you get promoted at work to the job you always dreamed of having. the new york times puts your photo on the front page under the title “person of the year”. your first child is born and he’s healthy and strong and your wife insists that he be named after you. your marriage is ideal. you’ve never felt better in your life. you take a two-month vacation on the beach in tahiti.
so the next year, 2011, a guy comes up to you and asks, “how was your year 2010?” what are you going to say to him? “it was great!” but then the person says, “but didn’t you tell me once that the first day of the year was really bad for you?” and you say, “”you’re right. i don't want to minimize that. it was a very difficult day. but when i look at the totality of the year, when i put everything in perspective it was a tremendous year. the 364 tremendous days far outweigh that one day of pain and suffering.” it just sort of fades away.
just a thought from the front porch…
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
took the very worst and created the very best…
an illustration of the fact that GOD takes something negative and makes a positive is that GOD took the absolutely worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world and created the very best thing that ever happened in the history of the world.
GOD took the death of CHRIST on the cross and through that opened up heaven for people like you and me who if we say yes to JESUS CHRIST we can spend eternity with HIM. HE took the very worst thing and created the very best thing. then the question becomes, how can we not say that in our individual lives GOD can’t take whatever circumstances we’ve gone through and create something good from them. if HE can do that, can HE not take my experience and draw something good? i think HE can and the bible says HE will.
also remember that the day is coming when suffering will cease and evil will be judged.
a lot of times you hear people say, “there are people suffering in this world this very moment. why doesn’t HE come back right now and cause suffering to cease and to judge evil?”
to criticize GOD for not coming back yet is almost like taking a john grisham novel, reading the first third of the book and then throwing it away and say, “what a stupid book! he didn’t tie up all the loose ends of the plot.”
wait a second! the book’s not done and GOD promises the day is coming when HE will consummate history and then evil will be judged. we think of jonbennet ramsey and what a horrible thing – an innocent child murdered and somebody’s apparently gotten away with murder. but they haven’t gotten away with murder. GOD will judge that person and they will be held accountable for the crimes they’ve committed. they’re not getting away with murder.
so why doesn’t GOD come back now? because of HIS love. look at 2 peter 9.3 (niv), the LORD is not slow in keeping HIS promise as some understand slowness. HE is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
GOD is holding back the curtain of history, holding back the consummation of history because of some of you reading this who don’t know HIM yet. and if GOD were to come back at this time you would be shut out of knowing HIM. you’d be shut out of heaven forever. the reason GOD hasn’t come back yet is an expression of HIS unbelievable love for you. HE is giving you a chance.
just a thought from the front porch…
GOD took the death of CHRIST on the cross and through that opened up heaven for people like you and me who if we say yes to JESUS CHRIST we can spend eternity with HIM. HE took the very worst thing and created the very best thing. then the question becomes, how can we not say that in our individual lives GOD can’t take whatever circumstances we’ve gone through and create something good from them. if HE can do that, can HE not take my experience and draw something good? i think HE can and the bible says HE will.
also remember that the day is coming when suffering will cease and evil will be judged.
a lot of times you hear people say, “there are people suffering in this world this very moment. why doesn’t HE come back right now and cause suffering to cease and to judge evil?”
to criticize GOD for not coming back yet is almost like taking a john grisham novel, reading the first third of the book and then throwing it away and say, “what a stupid book! he didn’t tie up all the loose ends of the plot.”
wait a second! the book’s not done and GOD promises the day is coming when HE will consummate history and then evil will be judged. we think of jonbennet ramsey and what a horrible thing – an innocent child murdered and somebody’s apparently gotten away with murder. but they haven’t gotten away with murder. GOD will judge that person and they will be held accountable for the crimes they’ve committed. they’re not getting away with murder.
so why doesn’t GOD come back now? because of HIS love. look at 2 peter 9.3 (niv), the LORD is not slow in keeping HIS promise as some understand slowness. HE is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
GOD is holding back the curtain of history, holding back the consummation of history because of some of you reading this who don’t know HIM yet. and if GOD were to come back at this time you would be shut out of knowing HIM. you’d be shut out of heaven forever. the reason GOD hasn’t come back yet is an expression of HIS unbelievable love for you. HE is giving you a chance.
just a thought from the front porch…
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
something positive out of the negatives…
GOD has the big picture when it comes to pain and suffering and we don’t. we’re limited by our perspective. we have finite minds and experiences.
we don’t many times understand when GOD allows things to happen in our life. it’s because HE loves us, because HE’s disciplining us, trying to get us on the right track. and we blame HIM and curse HIM for the things that have happened to us. why? because we don’t have the big picture. and that's reality.
but when we do have the big picture our attitude is going to change – someday in eternity, when we have the big picture. listen to these words of joni erickson tada, “every sorrow we face will one day prove to be the best possible thing that could have happened to us. we will thank GOD endlessly in heaven for the trials HE sent us here. this is not disneyland. this is the truth!” this is from a woman who was paralyzed as a teen, who is well acquainted with pain and suffering.
GOD can accomplish something positive out of the negatives of life. HE does this by fulfilling the promise HE makes in romans 8.28 (niv), and we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love HIM, who have been called according to HIS purpose. GOD’s saying HE can take the bad circumstances that befall us and HE can cause good to emerge if we are committed to HIM and committed to HIS purposes.
the old testament gives a wonderful illustration of this in the life of joseph. joseph was a guy who was sold into slavery by his own brothers. then he’s falsely accused of a crime, falsely imprisoned, twelve years of pain and horrible suffering. then he’s elevated to a role of great authority where he finally can save the lives of the very brothers who had sold him into slavery and many other people.
this is what he says in genesis 50.20 (niv) to his brothers about the sufferings that he went through: you intended to harm me, but GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. you intended it for bad but GOD intended to use it for good. and if you’re committed to GOD, then HE promises to take whatever pain you experience in your life and to draw good from it.
just a thought from the front porch…
we don’t many times understand when GOD allows things to happen in our life. it’s because HE loves us, because HE’s disciplining us, trying to get us on the right track. and we blame HIM and curse HIM for the things that have happened to us. why? because we don’t have the big picture. and that's reality.
but when we do have the big picture our attitude is going to change – someday in eternity, when we have the big picture. listen to these words of joni erickson tada, “every sorrow we face will one day prove to be the best possible thing that could have happened to us. we will thank GOD endlessly in heaven for the trials HE sent us here. this is not disneyland. this is the truth!” this is from a woman who was paralyzed as a teen, who is well acquainted with pain and suffering.
GOD can accomplish something positive out of the negatives of life. HE does this by fulfilling the promise HE makes in romans 8.28 (niv), and we know that in all things GOD works for the good of those who love HIM, who have been called according to HIS purpose. GOD’s saying HE can take the bad circumstances that befall us and HE can cause good to emerge if we are committed to HIM and committed to HIS purposes.
the old testament gives a wonderful illustration of this in the life of joseph. joseph was a guy who was sold into slavery by his own brothers. then he’s falsely accused of a crime, falsely imprisoned, twelve years of pain and horrible suffering. then he’s elevated to a role of great authority where he finally can save the lives of the very brothers who had sold him into slavery and many other people.
this is what he says in genesis 50.20 (niv) to his brothers about the sufferings that he went through: you intended to harm me, but GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. you intended it for bad but GOD intended to use it for good. and if you’re committed to GOD, then HE promises to take whatever pain you experience in your life and to draw good from it.
just a thought from the front porch…
Monday, January 31, 2011
do something you hate, to achieve something you love…
GOD uses pain to sharpen our character, to help HIS children become more like CHRIST. romans 5.3 (niv), we also rejoice in our suffering because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. it’s like the old saying, “no pain, no gain.”
listen the truth in improvement in our character and in our wisdom and in our virtue often comes through a process that involves hardship. it involves sacrifice. it involves trials. it involves difficulty. that’s how we learn, many times.
for instance, there could be no such thing as courage in a world where there’s no risk. hebrews 5.8 (tev) talks about JESUS CHRIST. even though HE was GOD’s SON HE learned to be obedient because of HIS sufferings. so here you have JESUS learning to be obedient. how? through HIS sufferings. so the question becomes, if that was true of the SON of GOD, why would that not be equally true of us?
the bible also says that GOD uses pain to lovingly discipline HIS children for their own good so they might learn the right path to take.
hebrew 12.19-11 (niv) says, our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best. but GOD disciplines us for our own good that we may share in HIS holiness. no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
we don’t usually relate discipline with the idea of something good. but that’s because we confuse discipline with punishment. punishment is retribution for misbehavior in our past. discipline is the loving way in which we correct someone’s behavior so their future will be better for this.
if you’re a parent, do you like to discipline your kids? no. but you do something you hate – which is discipline – in order to achieve something you love which is to protect your children from the harm that would befall them if they kept going down the wrong path that they were on.
just a thought from the front porch…
listen the truth in improvement in our character and in our wisdom and in our virtue often comes through a process that involves hardship. it involves sacrifice. it involves trials. it involves difficulty. that’s how we learn, many times.
for instance, there could be no such thing as courage in a world where there’s no risk. hebrews 5.8 (tev) talks about JESUS CHRIST. even though HE was GOD’s SON HE learned to be obedient because of HIS sufferings. so here you have JESUS learning to be obedient. how? through HIS sufferings. so the question becomes, if that was true of the SON of GOD, why would that not be equally true of us?
the bible also says that GOD uses pain to lovingly discipline HIS children for their own good so they might learn the right path to take.
hebrew 12.19-11 (niv) says, our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best. but GOD disciplines us for our own good that we may share in HIS holiness. no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
we don’t usually relate discipline with the idea of something good. but that’s because we confuse discipline with punishment. punishment is retribution for misbehavior in our past. discipline is the loving way in which we correct someone’s behavior so their future will be better for this.
if you’re a parent, do you like to discipline your kids? no. but you do something you hate – which is discipline – in order to achieve something you love which is to protect your children from the harm that would befall them if they kept going down the wrong path that they were on.
just a thought from the front porch…
Sunday, January 30, 2011
GOD’s megaphone…
it helps me remember as i ponder this mystery of pain and evil that although suffering is not good, GOD can use it to accomplish good. HE can and does use it to accomplish good. and there are many ways that GOD does this.
one way is GOD uses pain to draw people toward CHRIST.
the CHRISTian philosopher peter craff put it this way, “the meaning and purpose of suffering in history is that it leads to repentance. only after suffering, only after disaster did israel, do nations, do individuals turn back to GOD.” suffering brings repentance. we learn the hard way.
as c. s. lewis said, “GOD whispers to us in our pleasure. HE speaks to us in our conscious. but HE shouts to us in our pain. pain is GOD’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
many of you know that’s exactly true in your own experience. if you’re going through times in your life when everything is going great, the sun is shining, the money is rolling in, the marriage is wonderful, the job’s great, it’s in those seasons when we’re less likely to turn to GOD. but when there is pain, when suffering comes, when heartbreak takes place, what’s the first thing we do? we get on our knees and we pray, “GOD, help me! i need YOU! i want YOU! lead my life! help me in this situation.”
2 corinthians 7.10 (lb), for GOD sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. then look at the next sentence. we should never regret HIS sending it.
why? because if it causes us to seek GOD and to find GOD, the experience of that is so great it is worth whatever pain it caused us to seek GOD in the first place.
there was a woman once who had lived a very wild life. she had been very far from GOD then she contracted cancer and it was terminal. she had a very short time to live. she, in her desperation and in her pain and suffering, reached out to GOD. and GOD embraced her and she had the most beautiful relationship with HIM and she made a very radical statement before she died. she said, “if it took cancer for me to meet JESUS CHRIST, i say thank GOD for cancer.” that is a very radical statement. if that doesn’t compute with you, maybe one reason might be that you don’t know JESUS yet in that way. i pray the day will come when you will know HIM in that way and be able to say, “regardless of what it took for me to come to this point it was worth it for this.”
just a thought from the front porch…
one way is GOD uses pain to draw people toward CHRIST.
the CHRISTian philosopher peter craff put it this way, “the meaning and purpose of suffering in history is that it leads to repentance. only after suffering, only after disaster did israel, do nations, do individuals turn back to GOD.” suffering brings repentance. we learn the hard way.
as c. s. lewis said, “GOD whispers to us in our pleasure. HE speaks to us in our conscious. but HE shouts to us in our pain. pain is GOD’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
many of you know that’s exactly true in your own experience. if you’re going through times in your life when everything is going great, the sun is shining, the money is rolling in, the marriage is wonderful, the job’s great, it’s in those seasons when we’re less likely to turn to GOD. but when there is pain, when suffering comes, when heartbreak takes place, what’s the first thing we do? we get on our knees and we pray, “GOD, help me! i need YOU! i want YOU! lead my life! help me in this situation.”
2 corinthians 7.10 (lb), for GOD sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. then look at the next sentence. we should never regret HIS sending it.
why? because if it causes us to seek GOD and to find GOD, the experience of that is so great it is worth whatever pain it caused us to seek GOD in the first place.
there was a woman once who had lived a very wild life. she had been very far from GOD then she contracted cancer and it was terminal. she had a very short time to live. she, in her desperation and in her pain and suffering, reached out to GOD. and GOD embraced her and she had the most beautiful relationship with HIM and she made a very radical statement before she died. she said, “if it took cancer for me to meet JESUS CHRIST, i say thank GOD for cancer.” that is a very radical statement. if that doesn’t compute with you, maybe one reason might be that you don’t know JESUS yet in that way. i pray the day will come when you will know HIM in that way and be able to say, “regardless of what it took for me to come to this point it was worth it for this.”
just a thought from the front porch…
Saturday, January 29, 2011
the source of disorder and chaos...
the second kind of evil is called natural evil. these are things like earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes. natural phenomena that cause pain and suffering. these too are the result of sin having been allowed into the world.
this is how one author explained it: “when we human beings told GOD to shove off. HE partially honored our request. nature began to revolt. the earth was cursed. genetic breakdown and disease began. pain became part of the human experience.”
genesis 3.18 (niv) says, because of sin, nature was corrupted and thorns and thistles entered into the world. romans 8:22 (tev) says, for we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain like the pain of childbirth. in other words it’s almost as if nature were longing for redemption to take place so things would be set right again. that’s the source of disorder and chaos.
some people ask, “couldn’t GOD have foreseen that this was going to happen? that people would rebel against HIM. couldn’t HE have seen that in advance?” the answer to that is of course. so why did HE go ahead and create things?
i think the answer is, using an analogy, is like you being a parent. you knew before you had your child that there was a very real possibility that your child would endure suffering in their life, some pain, some hardship. they may have some disappointments in life, some failures in life. they may reject you as a parent – walk away from you and cause great hurt to you. and yet knowing the very real possibility of that you went ahead and had kids anyway. why did you do it? because you knew there was also the very real possibility the potential for tremendous joy and a loving relationship and a deep meaning in that relationship that you would have with your child.
and the same thing is true with GOD. HE knew that we would rebel against HIM. but HE also knew that many people would choose to follow HIM, would choose to love others, would choose to spend eternity with HIM in heaven. and it was all worth it for those people even though it meant for HIM the suffering and the death of HIS SON JESUS CHRIST on the cross.
just a thought from the front porch…
this is how one author explained it: “when we human beings told GOD to shove off. HE partially honored our request. nature began to revolt. the earth was cursed. genetic breakdown and disease began. pain became part of the human experience.”
genesis 3.18 (niv) says, because of sin, nature was corrupted and thorns and thistles entered into the world. romans 8:22 (tev) says, for we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain like the pain of childbirth. in other words it’s almost as if nature were longing for redemption to take place so things would be set right again. that’s the source of disorder and chaos.
some people ask, “couldn’t GOD have foreseen that this was going to happen? that people would rebel against HIM. couldn’t HE have seen that in advance?” the answer to that is of course. so why did HE go ahead and create things?
i think the answer is, using an analogy, is like you being a parent. you knew before you had your child that there was a very real possibility that your child would endure suffering in their life, some pain, some hardship. they may have some disappointments in life, some failures in life. they may reject you as a parent – walk away from you and cause great hurt to you. and yet knowing the very real possibility of that you went ahead and had kids anyway. why did you do it? because you knew there was also the very real possibility the potential for tremendous joy and a loving relationship and a deep meaning in that relationship that you would have with your child.
and the same thing is true with GOD. HE knew that we would rebel against HIM. but HE also knew that many people would choose to follow HIM, would choose to love others, would choose to spend eternity with HIM in heaven. and it was all worth it for those people even though it meant for HIM the suffering and the death of HIS SON JESUS CHRIST on the cross.
just a thought from the front porch…
Friday, January 28, 2011
some very good questions need to be answered…
GOD is not the creator of evil and suffering. this fact answers the question you hear so often of why didn’t GOD create a world where there was no evil and suffering in the first place? and the answer to that is, HE did.
genesis 1.31 (niv) says, GOD saw all that HE made and it was very good. so if GOD is not the author of evil and suffering and if what HE created is good, then where did it come from in the first place?
the answer to that has to do with the fact that GOD decided to give human beings free will. why did HE do this? because the highest value in the universe is love -to love GOD and to love other people. and the only way that highest value can really be attained is if we have free will. then we can make the choice to love or not to love. true love must involve a choice.
it’s like if you go to the toy store where you buy one of those dolls with a string on it and it says, “i love you.” does that doll really love you? no, of course not. it’s programmed to say it. it has no choice. it must say it. so it’s not love.
so for you to really express love you must be able to make the choice not to love in order for your expression of love to be true. so GOD, knowing this, gave human beings that free will but we’ve abused it and we’ve rejected GOD. and the result has been the introduction of evil into the world.
one type is moral evil. moral evil is the immorality and the pain and the suffering that results when we make the choice to be selfish and arrogant and uncaring and abusive.
romans 3.23 (niv) makes it clear. all of us have sinned. all of us have fallen short of the glory of GOD. therefore we’ve all done things out of our free will that have resulted in hurt to ourselves and to other people. in fact, some one has estimated that 95% of the suffering in this world is the result of sin of ourselves or other people.
for example, people look at the famines that take place in africa and say, “where’s GOD in all this?” people are dying of starvation. how does HE allow this famine to take place?
listen, we produce enough food on this planet to give every man, woman and child three thousand calories a day. but it’s because of our own selfishness, our own irresponsibility and misplaced nationalism that people are starving.
look at your hand. you can say, “i can either take this hand and pick up a gun and shoot and kill someone or i can take this very same hand and feed someone who’s starving to death.” it’s my choice. but it isn’t really fair if i pick up a gun and shoot someone and then say, “why does GOD allow evil and suffering?” you’ve made the choice to pick up the gun and pull the trigger. it’s like the old cartoon: “we’ve seen the enemy and he is us.”
just a thought from the front porch…
genesis 1.31 (niv) says, GOD saw all that HE made and it was very good. so if GOD is not the author of evil and suffering and if what HE created is good, then where did it come from in the first place?
the answer to that has to do with the fact that GOD decided to give human beings free will. why did HE do this? because the highest value in the universe is love -to love GOD and to love other people. and the only way that highest value can really be attained is if we have free will. then we can make the choice to love or not to love. true love must involve a choice.
it’s like if you go to the toy store where you buy one of those dolls with a string on it and it says, “i love you.” does that doll really love you? no, of course not. it’s programmed to say it. it has no choice. it must say it. so it’s not love.
so for you to really express love you must be able to make the choice not to love in order for your expression of love to be true. so GOD, knowing this, gave human beings that free will but we’ve abused it and we’ve rejected GOD. and the result has been the introduction of evil into the world.
one type is moral evil. moral evil is the immorality and the pain and the suffering that results when we make the choice to be selfish and arrogant and uncaring and abusive.
romans 3.23 (niv) makes it clear. all of us have sinned. all of us have fallen short of the glory of GOD. therefore we’ve all done things out of our free will that have resulted in hurt to ourselves and to other people. in fact, some one has estimated that 95% of the suffering in this world is the result of sin of ourselves or other people.
for example, people look at the famines that take place in africa and say, “where’s GOD in all this?” people are dying of starvation. how does HE allow this famine to take place?
listen, we produce enough food on this planet to give every man, woman and child three thousand calories a day. but it’s because of our own selfishness, our own irresponsibility and misplaced nationalism that people are starving.
look at your hand. you can say, “i can either take this hand and pick up a gun and shoot and kill someone or i can take this very same hand and feed someone who’s starving to death.” it’s my choice. but it isn’t really fair if i pick up a gun and shoot someone and then say, “why does GOD allow evil and suffering?” you’ve made the choice to pick up the gun and pull the trigger. it’s like the old cartoon: “we’ve seen the enemy and he is us.”
just a thought from the front porch…
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