There are those who teach that if a person
just has enough faith he or she will have no troubles in their lives. When people come into difficulty they imply
that if the person had believed more sincerely or trusted more deeply they
would not have gotten sick, fallen into calamity, or found themselves in pain.
Such teachings are only half-truths, and as
Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “A lie which
is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.”
What is tricky about this statement is that when we face our
struggles in faith they do become easier to bear, and God does sustain us. But living in faith does not erase our
problems. Faith gives us hope and
strength to endure through dark days – and in this life there are many of
those.
Consider David. When he wrote this psalm he was, once again,
fleeing from King Saul who was trying to kill him. He writes, “My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts – the children of man, whose teeth are spears and
arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”
But don’t stop there, read verse 5.
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!”
David was facing difficulty and danger, yet
his mind is on God’s glory.
Is it possible that God can be glorified
through our suffering? Doesn’t it seem
more reasonable to think that God would be glorified through pouring out
blessings and riches on us? Yet God often
uses our earthly pain to achieve eternal joy.
God stripped David of home and family and
brought him through to make him King of Israel, and he became one of Jesus’
ancestors. Before that God brought the
murderer Moses out of hiding in Midian to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt. Abraham was called to leave family, home, and
security behind to go to a land that God would show him. He didn’t even know where he was headed! How terrifying! He followed in faith and became the father of
all believers. In the New Testament,
after Stephen was stoned persecution arose against those who believed in Jesus
and they were scattered, yet they carried the Gospel with them and many came to
faith through their message. Paul and
Silas were beaten and put in prison in Philippi, and God used their suffering
to bring salvation to the jailer and his whole household. And we must not forget that Jesus left heaven
to be born in this world, and he suffered a most horrific death, and by His anguish
He won salvation for the world.
Can God use the woes of your life for His
glory? Is it possible that although we
be sick, dying, in pain, or in terror that God can use those experiences in ways
that cause us and others to look and be amazed at what God has done for
us? (As an aside, this is why we
vehemently oppose euthanasia. While no
one wants to suffer, the LORD will both sustain the sufferer and reveal His mercy in the situation to
others.) Oh-so-often the problems of
this life become the staging ground for us to experience God’s faithfulness,
love and mercy.
When life is hard I often think of John 16:33,
where Jesus declares, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome
the world.” We may feel beaten, crushed
and hard pressed, but our hope is fixed on Christ and His salvation.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the people; I will sing praises to
you among the nations. For your
steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! Amen
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