Higher Ways
Personally, I find myself asking “why?” for the small, annoying things and rarely for the big life-changing things that happen. But many wonder why God allows bad things like shootings and other mass tragedies. Bad things are more common these days and everyone has an idea or opinion or angry accusation.
The question why does not plague my thoughts when something horrible happens because I know a little something about God. I know that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9) and I can accept that because I trust Him. I don’t have to know why. I know that is not enough for some and I have contemplated from time to time what I would say to someone who asked me why God allows such things.
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We are called to share in Christ’s suffering (Philippians 1:29). We will not suffer the way He did on the cross, yet we suffer in ways that He allows. I think of how Jesus had the glory of heaven awaiting Him when His suffering was over and I wonder if our suffering is in a way our preparation for heaven. Will it seem more glorious because of what we have suffered in this life? Is suffering part of the process somehow? Does it make us ready to go home?
None of us remembers our birth, but did it seem like suffering? The struggle to be born, was it painful and scary? In the passing from one part of life to another, is suffering necessary somehow? When someone dies from a long sickness, or suffers through old age, perhaps their suffering is in a way preparation for death, for the life that is coming next. When someone dies unexpectedly, we say they died instantly, but how do we know? How quick is an instant? Did they actually suffer in some way that we don’t know about? Does time stop as they hang between this life and eternity, to allow their suffering to prepare them? Perhaps it’s only instant to us.
It hurts to see loved ones suffer under any circumstances and it is natural to want to end the suffering of those we love, once we know death is inevitable. But for some reason God allows it as part of our fallen world. I would never want to interfere in what God is doing in those last days, hours, moments, before someone enters heaven.
Of course I am speaking only of those who believe and are preparing for heaven. In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus talks about a mass murder of people in the temple, and another group killed by a disaster. He indicates that their suffering is not connected to the way they lived their lives. His concern was not with their suffering but where they would spend eternity. It seems as though suffering is inevitable and no one is exempt.
Our lives on this earth are but a vapor, a blip on the radar, a grain of sand compared to all eternity, and God’s perspective is very different from ours. We are confined to the structure of time and cannot see outside of it. But God, while He is inside time with us, in the details of our lives, He sees the blip from His viewpoint. He knows that it is yet a little while until we are with Him and those we love. Remember, this is the One who uses the word “soon” to describe when He is returning. So if “soon” takes over 2,000 years, then how can our lives be more than a blink.
Just sharing my thoughts… no doubt there are mysteries surrounding this that I cannot even fathom. All I know for certain is I want to be ready. I want to fight the good fight, share in the His suffering, remain grateful, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with my God until He calls me home to share in the glory of heaven.
The question why does not plague my thoughts when something horrible happens because I know a little something about God. I know that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9) and I can accept that because I trust Him. I don’t have to know why. I know that is not enough for some and I have contemplated from time to time what I would say to someone who asked me why God allows such things.
continue reading
We are called to share in Christ’s suffering (Philippians 1:29). We will not suffer the way He did on the cross, yet we suffer in ways that He allows. I think of how Jesus had the glory of heaven awaiting Him when His suffering was over and I wonder if our suffering is in a way our preparation for heaven. Will it seem more glorious because of what we have suffered in this life? Is suffering part of the process somehow? Does it make us ready to go home?
None of us remembers our birth, but did it seem like suffering? The struggle to be born, was it painful and scary? In the passing from one part of life to another, is suffering necessary somehow? When someone dies from a long sickness, or suffers through old age, perhaps their suffering is in a way preparation for death, for the life that is coming next. When someone dies unexpectedly, we say they died instantly, but how do we know? How quick is an instant? Did they actually suffer in some way that we don’t know about? Does time stop as they hang between this life and eternity, to allow their suffering to prepare them? Perhaps it’s only instant to us.
It hurts to see loved ones suffer under any circumstances and it is natural to want to end the suffering of those we love, once we know death is inevitable. But for some reason God allows it as part of our fallen world. I would never want to interfere in what God is doing in those last days, hours, moments, before someone enters heaven.
Of course I am speaking only of those who believe and are preparing for heaven. In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus talks about a mass murder of people in the temple, and another group killed by a disaster. He indicates that their suffering is not connected to the way they lived their lives. His concern was not with their suffering but where they would spend eternity. It seems as though suffering is inevitable and no one is exempt.
Our lives on this earth are but a vapor, a blip on the radar, a grain of sand compared to all eternity, and God’s perspective is very different from ours. We are confined to the structure of time and cannot see outside of it. But God, while He is inside time with us, in the details of our lives, He sees the blip from His viewpoint. He knows that it is yet a little while until we are with Him and those we love. Remember, this is the One who uses the word “soon” to describe when He is returning. So if “soon” takes over 2,000 years, then how can our lives be more than a blink.
Just sharing my thoughts… no doubt there are mysteries surrounding this that I cannot even fathom. All I know for certain is I want to be ready. I want to fight the good fight, share in the His suffering, remain grateful, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with my God until He calls me home to share in the glory of heaven.