If we endure to the end and run the race that is set before us with patience, our tears will turn to joy and our sorrow into singing!
As a pastor, I know there are times when no words in human speech can remove the pain from the brokenhearted. Many of those times occur when a tragedy has befallen someone for no apparent reason.
Where is God when it hurts? Sometimes it seems He is silent just when we need Him the most. Why do suffering and pain afflict good people? In my opinion, there are three basic reasons:
See yesterday’s devotional for reason #2
3. God’s Sovereignty. Because of the sovereign, longrange purposes of God, there are times when things happen over which we have no control and about which we have no knowledge. We pound on heaven’s gates, asking, “Why is this happening?” And in response we hear only the deafening sound of eternal silence.
When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, it seemed the darkest day of his life. He couldn’t possibly have understood at that moment the longrange purposes of God in his life, or comprehended how the hand of God was directing every agonizing step.
When our hearts are breaking and our eyes are blinded with tears, it’s hard to see the sovereign hand of God guiding our every step. We suffer until the purposes of God become apparent to us, which may not happen for many years and may not be at all in this life.
But if we endure to the end and run the race that is set before us with patience, our tears will turn to joy and our sorrow into singing. We who mourn will be comforted. God guarantees it.
Source: Being Happy in an Unhappy World
Post a Comment