When we experience Pain - emotionally or physically - our biggest struggle is thinking we are forsaken and abandoned by God.
Yet God's greatest promise is nothing - especially suffering - will separate those who trust and Love Christ, from his love.
God's greatest proof is sending His Son to suffer what should have been our pain so He could restore us to Himself. This will ultimately free us from all pain in eternity, if not now. Because of this, our pain is not only temporary but actually becomes the means by which we are drawn closer to God - if our pain is received well i.e. by faith that God is using our pain for our good.
We may be certain that we are a child of God and believe He loves us simply because He proved it by sending Christ, even when we are constantly bombarded with experiences that seem to indicate otherwise.
Yet God's greatest promise is nothing - especially suffering - will separate those who trust and Love Christ, from his love.
God's greatest proof is sending His Son to suffer what should have been our pain so He could restore us to Himself. This will ultimately free us from all pain in eternity, if not now. Because of this, our pain is not only temporary but actually becomes the means by which we are drawn closer to God - if our pain is received well i.e. by faith that God is using our pain for our good.
We may be certain that we are a child of God and believe He loves us simply because He proved it by sending Christ, even when we are constantly bombarded with experiences that seem to indicate otherwise.
If our faith - that God is good, loving, wise, and all-powerful in allowing our pain - is not strong, the difficulties and struggles of life will beat us down when in fact God is seeking to build us up by drawing us closer to Himself - i.e. to purify and strengthen our faith through these challenges.
God is not judging us nor has he abandoned us when we go through adversity. Struggles are a part of our ¹broken condition and ²the broken world we now live in (brought about by humanity's general overall rebellion).
God is not judging us nor has he abandoned us when we go through adversity. Struggles are a part of our ¹broken condition and ²the broken world we now live in (brought about by humanity's general overall rebellion).
Though we are perfectly loved in and by Christ, we are not yet fully in union with God (we are not face to face with Him and in the fullness of His presence. We are not yet glorified or totally free of pain). All of creation (especially us) is presently in shackles, awaiting our complete deliverance.
For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.
The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/grace click here.
¹And what is the nature of our condition or existence? We are finite in our understanding and ability to gain what we most need - not because we are disconnected from God but simply because we are limited, dependent creatures.
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¹And what is the nature of our condition or existence? We are finite in our understanding and ability to gain what we most need - not because we are disconnected from God but simply because we are limited, dependent creatures.
But we are also spiritually dead and disconnected from the Source of all things and therefore impotent in our ability to live as we were designed to. We question God's love at the drop of a hat and at the slightest breeze of adversity. We are damaged goods - "traumatized" - full of distrust.
As a result, we often beat ourselves up and go through life wondering how and why God would love us. Surely, he has every right to abandon us because of our weaknesses and failures. And He does have a perfect right, yet He chooses to meet us in our weakness, on our level - in and through Christ - to restore us back to a loving relationship with him.
This state of current pain is because of our commitment to being our own God and disregard for Christ's work for us. Our trust in our efforts to win God's (and other's) acceptance must shift to trust in Christ's efforts (work) on our behalf. We must stop putting confidence in our deeds and put it in Christ's which are complete and completely satisfied our need and requirement for perfect righteousness i.e. right living.
²The world is full of beauty and wonder, but it is also filled with death, disease, destruction, decay, and conflict. God warned us this would be the outcome if we rebelled.
It is no wonder life is often difficult. Instead of being surprised or put off by adversity we should anticipate it. Christ said in this world you will have tribulation (adversity) but he also said "fear not I have overcome the world." How? By coming back to life after embracing our pain, suffering and eventual death so we too would participate in His resurrected life one day.
Adversity has nothing to do with God's love - in the sense that he no longer loves us when we struggle or go through hard times. But it also has everything to do with Gods Love because he uses all things (including and especially the hard things) for our good i.e. to draw us closer to him in greater dependence and trust through our struggles so we might become more like His Son in order to more fully experience His love.
