September 25, 2022
Greetings and blessings to all of you. I have a best friend on a blog. Her name is …. Joni Erickson -Tada. She is the poster child on “suffering.” She is a follower of Christ and a quadriplegic for a little over 50 years…and a cancer survivor. Married to ‘A Man of God’ who takes his vows seriously. Today she wrote “remember at your weakest most vulnerable moment you are never nearer to the unlimited inexhaustible power and love of the living Christ. Reach out your hand and if you cannot manage that…. just lift your little finger. Whatever your need however dire it might seem he will meet you with the resources of heaven.” We are reminded of the reason why God sometimes allows suffering. For Paul (in 2 Cor.12:7-10) “to keep me from becoming conceited” and to learn “My Grace is sufficient for you and my power is made perfect in weakness.” For you ..maybe you have yet to figure it out. Some of us cannot be a “Job” who said, “ though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” (Job 13:15) We may respond to suffering with a loss of trust/faith, or we may resent God with rebelliousness or distancing ourselves from Him or we may believe like Rabbi Harold Kushner who said, when his son passed away, “God is impotent over the evil in the world.” Maybe you too believe that it is easier to just dismiss God than to navigate the mystery of suffering. The relationship between God and suffering has kept a lot of people from following Christ. When we look at Joni, her husband, Job then Paul what questions pop into our heads? Are they “super Christians” and you are not? Are they born with a high tolerance to pain (emotionally/physically)? Did their upbringing, personality, and life circumstances have an impact of their approach to pain/and suffering? Hmmmm. We surely do not want to be like Job’s friends believing that “we got the answers” and at the same time unwilling to look at the complexity of a Great God who uses ALL things for His honor and Glory while at the same time shaping and molding us into His image. I submit that we will learn WHO GOD IS as we go through pain/suffering. We will learn He is able to weave a new design in our lives as you allow Him to remove the despair or bitterness and begin to teach us that God does love us and He has declared his faithfulness to us despite our sadness….so keep holding His hands. (2 Cor. 4:17 and Lament. 3:22-23)
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC