The Purpose of Suffering

All of life is perspective. EVERYTHING! What is good, what is bad, it is all perspective. James says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.." . How can I be joyful in the midst of trial or suffering? Because! “…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” I can be joyful if I have the proper perspective. If my focus is on what my trial is producing, perseverance leading to maturity, then I can be joyful. If my perspective is on the trial, then I cannot.

Right now I am in a suffering a great trial. My son is sick. If I focus on his illness and the complications that can result from it, I experience all manner of torment. But if instead I ask this simple question, “Father, what are you doing in this situation?” Then our Father willingly shares his perspectives with me.

“Control is an illusion.” This is one of the perspectives the Father has shared with me. I so desire to protect my children, yet, the truth is, I am unable to. I am not God. I cannot protect them from all the possible harm that can befall them. This does not negate my responsibility to parent them. But it does change my perspective.

“I can do nothing without Him.” Children are an entrustment from the Lord. I have to confess I am not always faithful with this entrustment. There are times, more times than I care to acknowledge, that I fail to put their needs above my own. I am a selfish creature and having children has not cured this, it has just revealed it. In this, as in all things, I need the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

“My son needs an encounter with God.” This is one of the ways the Father has led me to pray throughout all of this. He has also directed me to lead my son to direct his own prayers to the Father, to cry out to God for healing, and to depend on him for grace. I pray that through this he will know God in a personal way.

These are some of the perspectives the Father has given me throughout this trial. I am sure there will be others. The greatest perspective, of course, is that all of our lives exist to bring glory to the name of Jesus. May this be true of our family through this time.

Remember, suffering is not the worst thing. Suffering that produces nothing, is the worst thing!

Question Normal

It just hit me today. I put way too much stock in my own opinion. Truth is I don't have a clue what truth is. I have an internal sensor that tells me when something is right or wrong or normal. But just how trustworthy is this sensor? I'm sure professional assassins think they have a sensor they can trust, as do all kinds of other criminals and perverts.

What is normal? Really it just means average, common. ordinary. In an insane asylum normal is being insane. Normal is usually determined by the majority. Yet history has taught us that the majority can all view as normal some pretty awful things.

So this morning I asked myself, "Is there anything in my own definition of normal that is totally and completely off?" And what did myself say? Well, what could it say? How would it know?

Now you see that I lean a bit toward the philosophical and like philosophers of old I could drive myself insane (which in some circles would be normal) trying to figure out if I am normal. What am I going to do? How can I determine normality which is really another word for right or truth?

Truth is I can't. I can be sincere, yet mistaken. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). 'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9).

What am I to do? Is there anyone out there who can help me? Is there anyone who is not encumbered by their own history and experiences and has a truly objective point of view? Yes, there is. He is God.

There are so many marvelous things about our heavenly Father but two of the things I love the most is that he always tells the truth and he knows the truth to tell it. You see, God is the only normal there is. He is the standard of all things. Boy, how people hate that. Yet, hating it does not negate it.

I love how often before speaking Jesus would say, "I tell you the truth." How comforting that is. How great to know that I can know the truth and though my own opinions my be totally off, I am not left to their mercy. I can go to him who not only knows the truth, but is the truth for all my definitions of normalcy. This is may not be average, nor ordinary, nor common, but it is right and normal.