OUR BACKS TO THE WALL (The Reality of Suffering)

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An unknown poet wrote from his collection of pain:

 

I walked a mile with Pleasure,

She chattered all the way,

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

 

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And ne’er a word said she;

But, oh, the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me!

 

Everyone has had their back to the wall, and probably more than once.  We all, without exception, have known pain as a reality, and been forced to endure it. 

       In short, we are all in the same boat together.  Therefore, how do we learn better how to swim rather than to sink?

       Well, first it is important to allow the blessings of the promise in Isaiah 53:4-5 to sink into the center of our soul, “Surely he hath borne our grief’s, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Secondly, it is a monumental first step in the journey toward special spiritual strength to accept without equivocation that “Jesus loves us, this we know, for the Bible truly tells us so.”

Thirdly, in the journey toward understanding suffering accept the truth that most likely none of us get what we deserve, either good or bad.

And fourthly, we do not have to pass a special test before the Lord repeats the words first heard from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

These four truths seem elementary, but they are not.  Because time and time again when tragedy strikes a family, I have been met with the words, “We deserved it.  Let me tell you what we did” or “Why did this happen to us?  We don’t deserve this!”

Have you been incredibly good, or terribly bad in your life?  Unlikely.  Most folks major in being lukewarm.  Did God one day kneel down and draw a line in the sand of life and then dare you to step across that line?  And if you did, did He then say, “The back of my heavenly hand to you.  You deserve the punishment you are receiving.” 

I doubt it.  God’s bigger than that.

There is no doubt that much pain and suffering really comes from an abuse of freedom;  moral anarchy, really bad choices, a philosophy of life that says, If it feels good, it’s okay, even when it’s not okay.  You see, though we human beings really are just a little lower than the angels, if we choose to sin, and then do not even feel badly about the sinning, we court chaos.

“Turn left,” says God and we turn right for the simple reason we don’t want to turn left.  “Give me guidance,” we pray when sometimes we don’t really want guidance, what we want is clearance.

I remember when I was a little boy I would ask my parents for permission to do some-thing.  And they, seeing a bigger picture than I, would sometimes say no.  But I, not interested in bigger pictures, only in what I wanted, ignored their advice and followed my own foolishness.  And then got in trouble.  We do that don’t we, with our parents, with God, with common sense. 

Pays our money and takes our choice.

(to be continued)