Pain

According to Steve Robbins, we have two teachers--pain and the Holy Spirit. As much as we try to avoid pain, there's really no way around it. Others will hurt us from time to time, or won't meet our expectations; people who are important to us will pass from this life, and we will grieve their loss. Pain can do two things to us, it can make us bitter...or better. I have seen people who, through their pain, gave up on God. The problem was that they misunderstood God in the first place. When their image of who they thought God was was shaken, they gave up on Him.

Fortunately, the opposite happened in my own life. After I lost my mom, I began to seek God. I already believed in God, and I believed He was good. But in seeking Him, I began to discover more about Him. The more I learned (and continue to learn), the more I desired to serve and worship Him. It has made me a better person, not in the sense of being "good," but in the sense of learning and growing from the experience and ultimately realizing more of God's loving nature.

What I am very grateful for is a God who understands our suffering. He understands because he has experienced it. Heb 5:8 says, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered...." Jesus was Immanuel--"God with us." God is no stranger "up there" that doesn't relate to us. He came to us to show us how to live, gave us a glimpse of his kingdom, and then ultimately suffered for us.

Is that the god/God you know?

We will suffer. We will choose how to respond to our suffering. What will we learn as a result? Hopefully, instead of learning bitterness and resentment, we will learn perseverance, contentment, and the truth about God.