God's Presence and Deliverance in the Midst of Suffering

 Do you ever wonder why life can be so difficult? Why pain comes so easily at times? Why things or even people seem to be ripped from your hands? When a boss hands you the pink slip or a family member passes away? When you find out that a friend has been gossiping about you behind your back or you learn the awful truth that your spouse has been having an affair?

We all understand that these things happen and we all know based on God's Word that the Lord is good even in the midst of whatever circumstance we may be finding ourselves in, but simply knowing these things doesn't always make it easy. Rather, it may at times even make it a thousand times harder to know the truth that God is good and in control yet my life seems to be falling apart.

Shouldn't the Christian life offer freedom in every area, not just the penalty of sin? Freedom from suffering? Freedom from guilt and shame? Freedom from all forms of physical, emotional, and mental pain?

I would be elated if this were the case that as soon as you become a Christian all of your worries will go away, but that is not the truth. God did not promise us a life of happiness. He never said that having relationships with other people would be easy. He never promised good fortune all the time.

The sad reality is that tragedy happens. People are sinners and eventually some of them will come against you to do you harm. The Israelites experienced this truth over and over again. Sure, a lot of it was a consequence for their wrong choices, but in Deuteronomy 28:7, in the middle of a section regarding blessings upon them for their obedience, God says:

"The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways."

You see, even in the midst of blessings being lavished upon God's people, God never promised them a life of peace at all times. Instead, He councils them and tells them that enemies will rise against them and the promise is that He will take care of them in the midst of suffering. He will be their God and defend His people.

Christianity is not always knowing the truth intellectually, but rather knowing our God personally. I have found that when my wife is hurting, she does not always want me to tell her why she is hurting. She doesn't want me to explain to her all of the reasons. What she wants is me. She wants me to hold her and to be their with her.

While it is true that God did eventually allow other nations to conquer Israel for their disobedience, He has never left them and His promise in Romans 8:38-39 has rang true from beginning to end as the text says:

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You see, God will bring storms into our lives in order to test us, develop our character, and learn what it feels like to be carried by the Holy Spirit. And the promise of His Word is that no matter what evil may come against you, He will never leave you and most assuredly He will deliver you from the evil one (Matthew 6:13)! We may not always have lifelong happiness, but our eternal joy started the moment we entered God's family and it is all because of who Christ is and what He did on our behalf! Praise Jesus that there is now an eternal bond between us and Him and that He has given us to experience His true and all-fulfilling life everlasting!