The Glory in the Suffering
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
2 Corinthians 4: 7-10; 16 & 17
A wonderful Christian sister shared information about the virtual Desperate for Jesus Women’s Conference that was being livestreamed this past Friday and Saturday. I watched part of the conference Saturday morning, focusing mainly on a speaker by the name of Katherine Wolf whose incredible story captivated me. This young woman suffered a massive brain stem stroke out of the blue, six months after having her first child. To save her life, over half of her cerebellum was removed and many viral intra-cranial nerves were sacrificed in a 16-hour long micro-brain surgery. She spent 40 days in ICU and has had 11 surgeries. She is blind in her right eye and deaf in her right ear, and the right side of her face is paralyzed, drooping downward. She endures chronic back pain and has a special chair outfitted to help with the pain when she is not in her wheelchair. Yet, despite all that she has and continues to endure, the joy with which she expresses her love of the Lord is one like I have rarely encountered. She shares the high times and the difficult times with the same genuine exuberance, steadfastly crediting God as the One who sustains and provides her joy and strength. She was not a Pollyanna, declaring that all was just sweetness and light; no, she was real—she did not balk at sharing some of those challenges and she didn’t sugar coat anything. The closeness of her relationship was almost enviable to me, and I was a little bit ashamed of that feeling of envy.
I’ve known others who have responded to health challenge after health challenge like Katherine has, and most of you reading do as well, to varying degrees. Sandy Williams, who was a member of our church several years ago, faced several extreme health conditions—diabetes, leg amputation, chronic pain from a car accident—and yet she always had a smile on her face and a praise for the Lord. Our dear sister Cynthia Wilkerson faced not only scleroderma, was on dialysis for a while until her kidney replacement, suffered from ALS, a progressive nervous system disease, which ultimately led to her passing from it quite recently. Throughout all of her health issues, however, Cynthia’s faith never seemed to waver or falter. Her perseverance enabled her to cling to God to sustain her, and His goodness and light shone in her, even into her last days.
And we can’t forget Paul. In his own words, we hear all of the hardships he endured: five different times he received thirty-nine lashes, three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned and left for dead, three times shipwrecked, one time he spent a whole night and day adrift at sea. He traveled on long journeys, facing dangers from rivers and from robbers. He tells the Corinthians that he worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. He has been hungry and thirsty and often went without food. “I have shivered in the cold,” he writes, “without enough clothing to keep him warm.” He had to escape the city of Damascus by being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall. But the relationship Paul had with our heavenly Father is one unlike any in the scriptures. He continually praised the Lord, confident in the love that His father had for him. Paul suffered for preaching Christ crucified, and glorified God throughout. Paul experienced a closeness in his walk to the Lord that I daresay many of us strive for. The man experienced being caught up into the third heaven—Paradise—for goodness sake! Again, like Cynthia’s situation, I wondered how he was able to attain that closeness despite all that he had endured.
I have often wondered what special qualities a person had to have to withstand some of the trials and tribulations that they have experienced. I used to buy into the thought that “the Lord doesn’t give you more than you can handle” until I realized that a) it’s not scriptural and b) if that were the case, then wouldn’t logic dictate that people wouldn’t die from diseases or tragedies? What was it that the Lord was looking for in a person’s soul and walk to decide whether to allow this trial or that tribulation to happen? Was I thankful that I didn’t have to experience such tragedies, that I’d dodged those proverbial bullets? I would look at Sandy, Cynthia, and others, and shake my head, firm in the knowledge that I simply would not be able to handle what they have handled. But how is it that they had such a strong relationship despite all they suffered through?
What I realized after having listened to Katherine Wolf’s story is that my thought process was fundamentally wrong. These people did not develop such a love and deep trust in the Lord despite what they had experienced—they had such a relationship with Him because of what they experienced. Paul himself reminds us to “glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance character; and character, hope.” James tell us to “count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience, and to let patience have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Peter shares that “the genuineness of our faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” If we accept these exhortations to be true, and we should, then we have to see the benefit and the glory of experiencing the challenges that the Lord allows to happen in our lives. He is growing, pruning, and molding us, and all for the ultimate goal of us growing more into the image of Christ in our spiritual walk. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. The clay gets to experience the constant and steady touch of the Potter as He turns the wheel, beauty being created out of nothingness.
Prayer Requests
· Thanks and praise for the uplifting worship service with Skylar and Erica this past Sunday, and for God’s will in filling the Youth Director/Worship leader position
· For Pastor Ray and April, and their loved ones, at the upcoming Washington D.C. PCS
· For those suffering from COVID, as well as those who have lost loved ones to this virus
· For healthcare workers, law enforcement, and first responders
· For us to seek His will in all things
Beloved, Almighty God is a loving and giving Father Who wants the best for us, even if our betterment has to be attained through suffering. He has promised to never leave us, and we have that surety in the being of the Holy Spirit with us. Oh, what comfort and care He gives us throughout, for He is the God of the mountaintops as well as the valleys. What opportunities abound for us to grow closer in each obstacle we face, knowing that we do not face them alone.
Quotes
“Be a mess with Him. Cry and yell and be broken before Him. Be ridiculously excited about your dreams – talk to Him about them. Let Him be the first one you run to with anxious thoughts, gratefulness for blessings, and everything in between.” --Sydney Stephens
“A soft reminder: not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.”