Sometimes, life is easy. Now, we never think about it like that. We rarely, if ever, stop to think, "wow, my life is really a breeze right now." But let's face it, there are all (often short) periods in our life when nothing terribly awful is going on. When things are just..."normal." We take these times for granted pretty much always. I can't ever remember a point in my life where I prayed to God and thanked Him for my incredibly normal life. No, I normally pray and thank Him when something extraordinary happens, or I pray and beg Him for healing, help, and relief. There's not usually an in between kind of prayer.
Well, after this past month or two, I will most certainly find myself thanking God for the normal times when my life gets back there. Not that life has been completely awful, but to call it stressful would be an understatement. I feel as thought every aspect of my life has some form of stress or pain in it right now, although when I talk to friends and start reading some of my favorites blogs, I know I'm not the only one out there and I'm most certainly not in the worst shape. I have friends going through horrible things right now, and that may be part of my "life pain" right now. I am terribly empathetic - to a fault. I hurt for everyone. I hate watching a friend go through something difficult, struggle with health failure or be torn apart by something. It just kills me. And right now, there are so many loved ones going through so much pain.
It's times like this when I think of those passages in the New Testament that talk about "Creation groaning, waiting for the return of Christ" or "the Spirit interceding for us with groanings that cannot be uttered." Sometimes, there is just nothing to say. Sometimes, all that comes out is "God, it hurts. Help." Or sometimes, it's not even a hidden pain, it's just that there appears to be no end or resolution to an extremely stressful situation. You have no idea what to even ask God for; you just want the situation to end.
This point is where I'm beyond grateful for our good and loving God. God is not up in Heaven rejoicing when we are in pain. He does not enjoy when His children suffer - I think Job is pretty clear in that, while God allows certain things to happen to us, it is not for His enjoyment, per say. I know there are Christians out there that feel when they suffer, they are making God happy, and I just don't see that in Scripture. Do you enjoy when your kids are in pain? When something at school is making them miserable? When they're stressed out beyond belief? No! No humane parent on the planet enjoys watching their children in pain. But sometimes, we have to allow it for the purpose of growth and learning.
Some lucky children out there learn vicariously through others - they watch older siblings misbehave and be punished and realize, "hmmm, that's not something I want to go through." My husband is one of those people for the most part. He learns vicariously. I, on the other hand, am not at all like that. I have to experience the pain to really understand it, and that has gotten me in lots of trouble throughout the past. But the point is, I learned. I was taught those lessons, and let me tell you - I will never forget them. I grew as a person and became better for those lessons, however horrible the learning process was. This is how our Christian walk operates, and somewhat to an even greater extent. We can never fully understand the love of God until we go through human rejection. We can never fully experience the mercy of God unless we've been forgiven. There are so many characteristics of who God is that become so much more real after you've lived through pain, and that's the whole point of life - to discover who God is and to praise and glorify Him because of it.
So, while part of my is currently longing for a return to "normal" times in my life, the other part of me is whole-heartedly searching for God to show me what part of Him is to be magnified through my life situations. What am I not understanding completely about Him that He wants me to learn? Looking at life like this is the only way to stay sane sometimes.... and moments of sanity are few and far between.
How have horrible or difficult life circumstances taught you more about your God? Is there something about Him that you never would have understood without life being so hard? Please tell me I'm not the only one out there :)
Well, after this past month or two, I will most certainly find myself thanking God for the normal times when my life gets back there. Not that life has been completely awful, but to call it stressful would be an understatement. I feel as thought every aspect of my life has some form of stress or pain in it right now, although when I talk to friends and start reading some of my favorites blogs, I know I'm not the only one out there and I'm most certainly not in the worst shape. I have friends going through horrible things right now, and that may be part of my "life pain" right now. I am terribly empathetic - to a fault. I hurt for everyone. I hate watching a friend go through something difficult, struggle with health failure or be torn apart by something. It just kills me. And right now, there are so many loved ones going through so much pain.
It's times like this when I think of those passages in the New Testament that talk about "Creation groaning, waiting for the return of Christ" or "the Spirit interceding for us with groanings that cannot be uttered." Sometimes, there is just nothing to say. Sometimes, all that comes out is "God, it hurts. Help." Or sometimes, it's not even a hidden pain, it's just that there appears to be no end or resolution to an extremely stressful situation. You have no idea what to even ask God for; you just want the situation to end.
This point is where I'm beyond grateful for our good and loving God. God is not up in Heaven rejoicing when we are in pain. He does not enjoy when His children suffer - I think Job is pretty clear in that, while God allows certain things to happen to us, it is not for His enjoyment, per say. I know there are Christians out there that feel when they suffer, they are making God happy, and I just don't see that in Scripture. Do you enjoy when your kids are in pain? When something at school is making them miserable? When they're stressed out beyond belief? No! No humane parent on the planet enjoys watching their children in pain. But sometimes, we have to allow it for the purpose of growth and learning.
Some lucky children out there learn vicariously through others - they watch older siblings misbehave and be punished and realize, "hmmm, that's not something I want to go through." My husband is one of those people for the most part. He learns vicariously. I, on the other hand, am not at all like that. I have to experience the pain to really understand it, and that has gotten me in lots of trouble throughout the past. But the point is, I learned. I was taught those lessons, and let me tell you - I will never forget them. I grew as a person and became better for those lessons, however horrible the learning process was. This is how our Christian walk operates, and somewhat to an even greater extent. We can never fully understand the love of God until we go through human rejection. We can never fully experience the mercy of God unless we've been forgiven. There are so many characteristics of who God is that become so much more real after you've lived through pain, and that's the whole point of life - to discover who God is and to praise and glorify Him because of it.
So, while part of my is currently longing for a return to "normal" times in my life, the other part of me is whole-heartedly searching for God to show me what part of Him is to be magnified through my life situations. What am I not understanding completely about Him that He wants me to learn? Looking at life like this is the only way to stay sane sometimes.... and moments of sanity are few and far between.
How have horrible or difficult life circumstances taught you more about your God? Is there something about Him that you never would have understood without life being so hard? Please tell me I'm not the only one out there :)
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