In grief, God is your treasure. “The magnificence of Job’s worship is because it was in grief, not because it replaced grief.” John Piper - Job: Reverent in Suffering
I didn't get this for the longest time. I struggled with suffering and worship. I felt guilty saying "Yes, God is good" and at the same time feeling the hurt, like crazy. I thought I was doing something wrong. I thought there was something I missed. If I knew the reasons for trusting God, and my faith was firm, why was this still hard?
Because it's the narrow road. It's promised trials. Knowing the purpose, and having the faith doesn't make running this race any less of a race, or any less of a climb. We're still going to run out of breath. We're still going to ache and grieve in exhaustion.
We are promised suffering. And we are promised Christ. Sometimes I wonder why I keep on doing the 'right things' even though it's not the key to making these trials feel less like trials. It's still a full blown trial with every bit of grief and hurt and sadness, but not alone. Not just grief, but God. Not just sadness, but joy too in looking to Jesus. Not just suffering, but faith. Do you see it? It's hope. Hope makes you 'walk through the valley of the shadow of death'. Without hope, you'd probably just set up camp there.
“Let those who suffer according to God’s will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator”
1 Peter 4:19
No comments:
Post a Comment