Suffering--An Invitation to Intimacy
I was recently sharing some of the difficulties of my marriage and said that it's been over 30 years of hell but that I've remained because I know God wants me to. Someone wrote and asked, "Why would God want us to go through hell? That's just plain cruel." This was my reply:
Oh! I can tell right away that this will be a long answer. I want to tell you right away that God is incredibly good and this doesn't change simply because my circumstances are bad.
God is not cruel. He loves us so very, very much. So why the pain? Well, for one, it has pushed me to God in a way nothing else could have. I walked away from God in the early years of my marriage. That solved nothing. When I returned to God, I began to take my difficulties and pain to Him. Would I have continued seeking His face if there hadn't been a need? I know that when things are going well, I have a tendency to stop reading my Bible and praying. I know others are the same way. So pain keeps my mind fixed on God and since I want God more than anything else, this is a good thing.
But I had an insight when I went through some guided meditations on the stations of the cross at a church I visited on Good Friday. It's a concept that will totally change my attitude about suffering.
When we, as people, are going through hard times--a death in the family, say, or some other great difficulty--who do we go to? We go to our closest friends. And those who truly care about us come alongside us and walk through the hard times with us. And those who have walked with us through the painful times are those with whom we stay close. Walking through that valley together strengthens our bond and knits us together in a way nothing else can. There are many fair weather friends but how many will stick close through the pain? Very few. Those who do, become our most intimate friends.
The Bible says we are called to share in Christ's sufferings. I never really understood the impact of this before. But when I suffer, what I am doing is sharing in Christ's sufferings. I get a glimpse, through my suffering, of what HIS suffering was like. It's a way of me walking through His valley with Him. Many of us run away from the pain that comes to us--or at least we try to. That's why there are so many addictions of various kinds and so much divorce. But when we are willing to ACCEPT the pain that life deals us, then we have the unique opportunity to know God better. It's like an invitation to intimacy with God. Only those who are willing to share in Christ's sufferings can truly know and understand Him. This is the path to intimacy with God and a deep relationship that nothing can shake.
I want that intimacy. I want to be in that place of depth with God. And so, as much as I hate the pain, I will stay in it because I want God more. And, in the pain, I am trusting God. He's given me a personal promise that my marriage will be made wonderful and new. That was two years ago and I've seen no sign of it yet but even if I never see that happen, I will trust God. In Job 13, Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."
Why has it been so long? I don't know. I do know that God could have changed things long ago. Have I been disobedient and thus blocked God from working in some way? I don't know. Is it that God is respecting my husband's free choice to make wrong choices? I don't know. I do know that He loves me more than I can comprehend, that His arms are around me, protecting me, and that He has my best good in mind. And I love the thought that this pain I'm in is God's invitation for intimacy with me. If pain is what it takes for me to enter that place with my God, then so be it. He will carry me through.
All that I've said is true for you too. God wants the same level of intimacy with you and if you are going through hard times, consider that His invitation for you to walk with Him through His sufferings so you can know Him deeper and more intimately. He was despised and rejected. Are you feeling that way too? Then you are sharing in His suffering if, indeed, you choose to walk in that valley instead of running away.
God is good. He is intensely good and He loves us with a passion that burns everything rotten that is in us. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
Oh! I can tell right away that this will be a long answer. I want to tell you right away that God is incredibly good and this doesn't change simply because my circumstances are bad.
God is not cruel. He loves us so very, very much. So why the pain? Well, for one, it has pushed me to God in a way nothing else could have. I walked away from God in the early years of my marriage. That solved nothing. When I returned to God, I began to take my difficulties and pain to Him. Would I have continued seeking His face if there hadn't been a need? I know that when things are going well, I have a tendency to stop reading my Bible and praying. I know others are the same way. So pain keeps my mind fixed on God and since I want God more than anything else, this is a good thing.
But I had an insight when I went through some guided meditations on the stations of the cross at a church I visited on Good Friday. It's a concept that will totally change my attitude about suffering.
When we, as people, are going through hard times--a death in the family, say, or some other great difficulty--who do we go to? We go to our closest friends. And those who truly care about us come alongside us and walk through the hard times with us. And those who have walked with us through the painful times are those with whom we stay close. Walking through that valley together strengthens our bond and knits us together in a way nothing else can. There are many fair weather friends but how many will stick close through the pain? Very few. Those who do, become our most intimate friends.
The Bible says we are called to share in Christ's sufferings. I never really understood the impact of this before. But when I suffer, what I am doing is sharing in Christ's sufferings. I get a glimpse, through my suffering, of what HIS suffering was like. It's a way of me walking through His valley with Him. Many of us run away from the pain that comes to us--or at least we try to. That's why there are so many addictions of various kinds and so much divorce. But when we are willing to ACCEPT the pain that life deals us, then we have the unique opportunity to know God better. It's like an invitation to intimacy with God. Only those who are willing to share in Christ's sufferings can truly know and understand Him. This is the path to intimacy with God and a deep relationship that nothing can shake.
I want that intimacy. I want to be in that place of depth with God. And so, as much as I hate the pain, I will stay in it because I want God more. And, in the pain, I am trusting God. He's given me a personal promise that my marriage will be made wonderful and new. That was two years ago and I've seen no sign of it yet but even if I never see that happen, I will trust God. In Job 13, Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."
Why has it been so long? I don't know. I do know that God could have changed things long ago. Have I been disobedient and thus blocked God from working in some way? I don't know. Is it that God is respecting my husband's free choice to make wrong choices? I don't know. I do know that He loves me more than I can comprehend, that His arms are around me, protecting me, and that He has my best good in mind. And I love the thought that this pain I'm in is God's invitation for intimacy with me. If pain is what it takes for me to enter that place with my God, then so be it. He will carry me through.
All that I've said is true for you too. God wants the same level of intimacy with you and if you are going through hard times, consider that His invitation for you to walk with Him through His sufferings so you can know Him deeper and more intimately. He was despised and rejected. Are you feeling that way too? Then you are sharing in His suffering if, indeed, you choose to walk in that valley instead of running away.
God is good. He is intensely good and He loves us with a passion that burns everything rotten that is in us. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
posted by Magdaleine at 7:34 AM
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