Understanding God in the Midst of Suffering

As a Christian there is ONE question that I always get:
How can you believe in a God when there is so much suffering in the World?
This year God has been giving me enough of an understanding that I can answer this question and as a result it has grown my faith. I have a new excitement in regards to God in the midst of this suffering in the world and I am thrilled to share it with you!

As I have brought up before: Suffering results from a sinful world. Even the earth is affected by sin which explains why there are natural disasters. When we "sheep" stop following our Shepherd(Jesus), who is leading us from the front, we choose to fall off the right and pure path that leads us to freedom-out of the bondage of sin. It may be our own sin, it may be another's sin that is affecting us, or it may be the sin of the country, or of the world in general. But regardless..we live in a sinful world and as a result there will be suffering all around us.

The Good news is that God uses this suffering to help us in multiple ways:
1. To grow one's own faith (ex. the blind man Job came to believe in Christ as the One true God through His suffering)
2. To grow one's faith to a deeper level (Mary and Martha-with Lazarus' death/Resurrection)
3. Suffering will be used so a special work of God shall be revealed to the world through our suffering. (ex. Jesus' death on the cross-suffering the greatest depth of suffering any human has ever experienced)

When I heard in detail the description of Jesus' Crucifixion, the pain that was described sent chills through my entire body. Yet did you know that in the midst of the most excruciating physical and emotional and spiritual suffering one could ever go through, Jesus was alert and His focus was on others?! He was focused (as He still is today) on caring for others' needs and how to best help them. I fall to my knees in humility and awe, thanking Jesus for his example and deep love for me.

So Ladies and Gentlemen we can See God in Suffering! The cross is our answer to suffering because it was part of God's loving plan to deliver His people from their sins. So remember, even when He seems silent we can have faith that He is at work (ex. When Jesus was being crucified God was silent for 3 hours and a great work was being completed--the key to our salvation!). God is here with us through out our trials (like with the disciples on the boat in the storm). He cannot bear to leave us struggling alone and therefore, He is with us. Now we must realize that there is a caution for us. Sometimes God's presence is manifested in unexpected ways and we fail to recognize it. So friends, we have to listen and hear God! To do so we must spend time with Him making Him part of our entire day!
When we suffer for God-He will comfort us at our lowest point. As Christians we will suffer in the world because the Bible says that the world hated Him (Jesus) and therefore they will hate us. We will face persecution. But, we will not face it alone.
God Cares. He will comfort us and He will cause our suffering (physical, social, mental, and spiritual) to work for the highest good. He will take us in His hand either by healing us or by giving us grace to endure the suffering. God will use the very instrument that will reveal His love, power and glory. Praise the Lord!
My favorite illustrative picture is that of ME in Jesus' palm and Jesus in God's hand. Jesus is secured with grip and as believers we are secure forever in this double grip of God!

With this knowledge we must take action! We must trust and follow God, not nervously, but by laying down in the palm of His hand (Psalm 121:8-"The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more." In Him we have security--He is our Gate =) )

As a Result we can have a true and perfect Joy in God. The comfort we receive in Him is greater than the pain. We see God's glory surrounding us because God's glory is goodness and greatness of God so that we can see it! God uses Suffering to reveal His glory and it is a glory that brings Joy to our entire beings!!

So My prayer is that as believers we will:
1. Wait on God's perfect timing! Remember, Jesus waited two days after hearing Lazarus was sick before going to Mary and Martha. If he would not have, then Lazarus would not have died, there would not have been the many testimonies from others of Jesus raising him from the dead. So, God has us in the right place at the right time and we must trust Him!
2. We must have complete dependence on God-living for Him. We may not fully understand Him but we need to live by faith and not by sight. Because we know that we can trust God and faith waits on God's timing.
3. We must take God's peace. Not allowing circumstances around us to take our peace away but extending God's peace through the circumstances. For God's peace calms hearts and takes away fears. Jesus is our comforter and peace in the world. We can rest in the fact that even when it is painful, God's will is perfect.

I love this Quote: "Only one life, twill soon be past, Only what's Done for Christ will last". We are looking eternally as we complete God's work for us with Joy. Remember, Jesus is our example as He did this very thing on the cross and it resulted in the greatest joy any person has ever experienced!

Today we can be excited about our lives with Christ as our foundation! Praise God for being the Vine. As we are the branches (John 15- 'I am the vine, you are the branches...') our strength, joy and peace come from God alone (our vine).

I will remain intimately connected to Him. I will go about each of my days, even as I think of other things,keeping my heart remaining in Christ; remaining conscious of His presence and my being dependant on Him. For in Him alone and through any kind of suffering, I will be fruitful, faithful, and filled with complete peace and joy. Will you choose to do so too?

With this understanding and joy, Today I can stand up in the circumstances around Bangkok, be strong in the ministry I am a part of, and let go of my future. God has it all figured out and I am growing in my relationship with Him daily as He is my Best Friend. He is doing a great work and I am apart of it! Are you laying everything at His feet too? If not...what is stopping you or what are you waiting for?! =) Join me in Praising God today!!