Faith from Inside My Snow Globe

Recently I've been prompted to think about the subject of suffering through sermons our pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, has been preaching on Job.

All suffering, in relationship to believers, seems to share the common substance of refining power. When God brings suffering to Job, the outcomes appear to be the glorification of God through Job's abiding trust in God's purposes and sanctification through Job's personal struggle  to consistently see God as the loving entity that he is even in painful experiences. Tullian shared this quote from Elyse Fitzpatrick “The proof of God’s power is not that we never suffer but that in our suffering, everything is turned to our good.” The temptation for me is to try to bypass the hurting through the knowledge that God is working out his good purposes in my life. But if I waltzed through my sufferings with a "Tra-la-la" attitude, where would the suffering lie? God's faithfulness to us isn't about taking away the pain of suffering, but it is about constructively using the pain of suffering. I think the key to bearing up under suffering is to accept it as a whole- the pain, the isolation, and the fear with a tenacious faith that God will ultimately use it for good. 


Recently I was telling a friend about my challenges in handling tough times. I talk to God and he gets my head and emotions straight, but, with every new development in a crisis, I have to repeat the process. "It's sort of like I live in a snow globe," I said, "and people can just walk by and shake up my world." It's hard for me to accept the fact that I have very little control over how and by whom my world is shaken. When I tremble, I have to rely on God to steady my snow globe world. And that reliance is an everyday thing.