Photo by Tobias Freeman
We are a new creation when we surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. He takes the driver’s seat and we follow His footsteps. Thereby, our old sinful nature is put to ‘death’ – Romans 6:6. Each day we radiate His glory in and through our lives as we walk through whatever comes our way.
As we journey here on earth, sometimes sickness assails our body and we can become incapacitated. Since we are human, our frail human nature can get the better of us and we can sink into despair. However, God knows and understands and He gives us His grace to endure whatever we have to face – 2 Corinthians 12:9.
I believe that the Lord, who cares about the sparrows, clothes the flowers and even knows how many hairs are on our head, does care about our well-being – Matthew 10:29. In His sovereignty, He does allow bad things to happen to us. This does not mean He directly ‘inflicts’ bad things on us. Our loving Heavenly Father wants good things for us, His children. When bad things happen to good people, everyone is shaken and begin to ask questions of a philosophical and cosmic nature.
When a chunk of wood is taken into a woodcarver’s hand, he takes a small, sharp knife and works at it. Sometimes he chips at it; sometimes he digs into it, all the time concentrating on the task with the end result in mind. If that wood was animate, it will be squealing and yelling. They say ‘no pain, no gain!’ Similarly, a nugget of gold has to go through the refiner’s fire to be purified so that it can be molded into something precious.
Recently, I attended the funeral of a friend who lost her battle to cancer. She immigrated to a new country in the hope of a better future for herself and her family. In the twelve years she lived in this new country, she was assailed with cancer for eleven years. If we were to pose the following to her, “What happens to you does not matter, what you BECOME through those experiences is all that is significant”, imagine what her response would be.
Whether it is sickness, a cheating spouse, rebellious children, nasty people in your life or any negative situation that viciously attacks your joy, it is definitely not a good for you. Many people bear these scars deep within their hearts. This pain can sometimes be observed in their eyes, which are the windows to their souls.
If you can picture the face of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, looking up at Him as He hung, suffering on the cross, what do you think she was going through? Can we honestly say, ‘it doesn’t matter?’ Those of us who know pain first-hand, especially pain that is deeper than physical pain, know what it feels like.
Ask an enthusiastic youth this question: If you want to be the best karate kid in town, who will you go to? He will promptly say, ‘the best master’. We know that the best master is usually the strictest one who will make that boy do very rigorous training, but he will succeed in achieving the desired result.
When we go through pain, it is not an easy pill to swallow. However, with the goal in sight, which our Saviour offers us, we are able to persevere and accomplish that which we have purposed in our heart – Philippians 3:14. What can you say about, “What happens to you does not matter, what you BECOME through those experiences is all that is significant”◊
Linda Pearl
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