The Crossroads of Suffering

The other day, I had a wife ask me “Is he going to get better?” They have been married for 64 years. “I don’t know how I can live without him.” She knew the answer when she asked me but I said, “No, he’s not, I’m sorry.”

I read the other day where a couple lost their twins and to add to the pain, they had already lost another child.

I learned a few days ago that we will be receiving a child to our services. There will be parents that will be losing their child.

Why wasn’t my young friend Melissa healed?

Why did my friend Jayne die such a brutal death?

Why does God choose to heal some and not others? There are miracles each day.

Remember the woman with the bleeding issues? (Matt 9:20-22) And Peter, he was delivered from Prison. (Acts 12:5-12) And the list goes on, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Lazarus as he was raised from the dead. And how can we forget ol’ Job…. God healed these....so why not others?

Job—he had it all, he lost it all. His well meaning friends tried to convince him of his “lack of” faith or “sin” in his life.. For surely, he had done something wrong…. Do you ever feel that way when life is not going so well?

But Job stood firm in his belief. Without disrespect to God, he questioned the injustice and defended his integrity. “Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him…” (Job13:15)

Through Job’s faith, he was eventually rewarded. Through his perseverance of his sufferings because what Job did come to learn about himself was his pride. He found a humble spirit.

We learn too just as with Paul that God does not always remove our circumstances. For like Paul, he did not remove the “Thorn in his flesh.” (2 Corinthians 12:7, 10)

So our suffering can come as a gift from God. Now, I'm NOT saying He caused it. But He will use the circumstance. In Job's circumstance it is clear that God "allowed" the circumstance to occur. After the conversation with Satan and God. But God did draw a line to where Satan could cross.

These trials come to bring us closer to our precious Savior. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

When we are faced with the crossroads of suffering, we have two options—Spiritual growth or despair.

Do not look for a road block that says “No suffering” just because you are of great faith. You won’t find it.

But you will find a garden of trees bearing much fruit if you choose the right road.

When you choose Him.