I found this devotional on a friends web page and thought that it was so good. I know it is the Chrismas season and the True season of Joy, but I can't not think that Mary and Joseph had to suffer greatly in their journey( the donkey ride alone would have done me in!).
Today is also World AIDS day. I used to be so judgmental about AIDS. God has definitely softened my heart to the millions of INNOCENT people and children who suffer and die due to this cruel disease all over the world.
Suffering Well
1 Peter 2:4-25
"WHAT GOOD IS SUFFERING?"
Have you ever asked that question? If so, you're not alone. The problem of pain and suffering in the world has turned many people away from faith in God and has inspired countless books and articles. Scholars and laypeople have tried for centuries to unravel the mystery of how God's plan can include evil in any form.
We live in a corrupt, fallen world in which illness occurs, violence happens and evil, for the time being, is allowed to run its course. Suffering is inevitable... our passage today even tells us we were "called" to suffer. It's not a matter of if we will suffer but when we will suffer. As believers in Jesus Christ, however, suffering offers the opportunity to display Christ's character and grace. For Christians, rather than asking, "Why does God allow suffering?" or even, "Why am I suffering?" we should ask, "How can I suffer well?"
Most of the early church leaders suffered violent deaths because of their outspoken and radical faith in Jesus. But every time one of them was martyred, the number of Christians grew. Why? Because people long to give themselves fully to a cause worth dying for. We all long for purpose and peace- and Jesus Christ offers both.
In his book Velvet Elvis, Bible teacher Rob Bell writes, "Ultimately our gift to the world around us is hope. Not blind hope that pretends everything is fine and refuses to acknowledge how things are. But the kind of hope that comes from staring pain and suffering right in the eyes and refusing to believe that this is all there is. It is what we all need- hope that comes not from going around suffering but from going through it."
Let's pray that God will allow us the privilege and strength of suffering well... for our sake, for his sake and for the sake of those who don't yet know him.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."- 1 Peter 2:9
2 comments:
My uncle died of AIDS in 1995. After watching him struggle for years, lose his eyesight, and die a very slow & painful death, I have such compassion for the disease, regardless of how it is contracted. God has given you such an amazing tender heart!
It's been a long journey that I am not proud of. Started when I took care of AIDS patients as a new nurse. I have come a long way, and still have a long way to go,believe me. Judgment is not for me to give, that is for sure.
tia
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