"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 ESV
Let me tell you this as straight and as plainly as I know how....
The world does not have to be ordered, perfect, evil free, or even coherent in order for you to love and be loved. No amount of crazy can stop you from loving and being loved.
The real problem isn't that we aren't loved. The real root of the problem is that none of us BELIEVE it. Faith is the courage to love the fact that you are loved. The secret to faith is trusting that you are loved. When you and I suffer, we can't escape the feeling that God has forgotten or abandoned us. This is the biggest lie the enemy will ever tell us.
Those of us that are serious about listening to Jesus' story discover that it does not teach us about God's all powerful nature. It instead shows us God's willingness to be human, to get hurt, to feel pain, and risk rejection in order better understand us. A God that understands that the worst thing about suffering for anyone who loves God is the dreadful fear that even He has left them. That my friends is a God that gets it and the one that we all serve. God knows exactly how ugly and how awesome it can be to be human.
When life is crap and you feel abandoned by everyone that you know, your so-called friends don't answer your calls anymore, God more than understands, He is simply a bowed head away. When those closest to you betray you and act like they don't know who you are remember Jesus and the denial of Peter. When the one closest to you dies and you don't get a real chance to say goodbye the way you wanted to and all you can do is cry aloud and question God the wheres and the whys, remember that He felt the same loss to when Lazarus died. God knows exactly how ugly and how awesome it can be to be human.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18 ESV
The cross doesn't signal that our suffering in this world is over or that it even might become meaningful someday but what it does show us is that there is hope that someday all will be redeemed in spite of the shape our world is in. I believe that the only meaning found in deep suffering may be that we are reminded that we are not alone. I believe that God is present whenever and wherever we suffer. God's face is sitting right there next to rubble that is our life at the worst moments we can imagine. All we have to do is seek Him and the comfort that He offers us. Just like He says in Isaiah 66:13, "As one who his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."(ESV)
The world does not have to be ordered, perfect, evil free, or even coherent in order for you to love and be loved. No amount of crazy can stop you from loving and being loved.
The real problem isn't that we aren't loved. The real root of the problem is that none of us BELIEVE it. Faith is the courage to love the fact that you are loved. The secret to faith is trusting that you are loved. When you and I suffer, we can't escape the feeling that God has forgotten or abandoned us. This is the biggest lie the enemy will ever tell us.
Those of us that are serious about listening to Jesus' story discover that it does not teach us about God's all powerful nature. It instead shows us God's willingness to be human, to get hurt, to feel pain, and risk rejection in order better understand us. A God that understands that the worst thing about suffering for anyone who loves God is the dreadful fear that even He has left them. That my friends is a God that gets it and the one that we all serve. God knows exactly how ugly and how awesome it can be to be human.
When life is crap and you feel abandoned by everyone that you know, your so-called friends don't answer your calls anymore, God more than understands, He is simply a bowed head away. When those closest to you betray you and act like they don't know who you are remember Jesus and the denial of Peter. When the one closest to you dies and you don't get a real chance to say goodbye the way you wanted to and all you can do is cry aloud and question God the wheres and the whys, remember that He felt the same loss to when Lazarus died. God knows exactly how ugly and how awesome it can be to be human.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18 ESV
The cross doesn't signal that our suffering in this world is over or that it even might become meaningful someday but what it does show us is that there is hope that someday all will be redeemed in spite of the shape our world is in. I believe that the only meaning found in deep suffering may be that we are reminded that we are not alone. I believe that God is present whenever and wherever we suffer. God's face is sitting right there next to rubble that is our life at the worst moments we can imagine. All we have to do is seek Him and the comfort that He offers us. Just like He says in Isaiah 66:13, "As one who his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."(ESV)
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