Perspective on Putting

How often have you found yourself using the phrase, "why is God putting me through this?" Often it is during the trials of life and we rarely see it as an opportunity. Instead it is just another thing added to the insurmountable pile of responsibilities. This perspective is distorted.

God doesn't "put" people through things. Christ always "leads" (being the King of Kings and all). So instead of asking why he is putting us through something, we should ask why is He leading me through this?

That change of words has a powerful implication. Instead of you blindly stumbling through the obstacle, feeling beaten and worthless left to your own devices, you are in fact empowered to follow in His foot steps, treading on a solid foundation laid out by His experiences. Christ put it this way:
"If the people of this world hate you, just remember that they hated me first. If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don’t belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and that is why its people hate you. Remember how I told you that servants are not greater than their master. So if people mistreat me, they will mistreat you. If they do what I say, they will do what you say. People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me, and they don’t know the one who sent me." - Jesus Christ qtd in John 18.


2 comments:

  1. You're right; it's a hard thing to wrestle with, to what extent does God "allow" suffering to happen to us and to what extent does He intentionally direct it? We can't think of God as causing bad things, and so if we consider trials to be bad things we cannot accept that they are from God. And insomuch as they were caused by someone's sin they were not, but that doesn't mean God didn't direct that we go through the trial. That reminds me how often I've heard people in churches singing the song that goes, "what if Your blessings come through raindrops, what if Your healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near, and what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?" It's a sweet song, but I think a bit too obvious. Everyone in Texas these days know that raindrops are blessings. But the harder consideration is that maybe droughts are the real blessings in disguise, because there is no observed benefit from them, at least none that are typically identified other than they make us grateful and dependent on God. I think that's basically right, though--the trials that seem only to bring pain are the dearest blessings, gifts, because they change us, bringing us closer to Christ like nothing else can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @JennyBeth - what is the title of that song?

    ReplyDelete