Chosen

“Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to You. For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals. My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite.” (Psalm 102:1-4 NLT)

Why do you think the Lord allows verses like the ones above in His Book? If you’ll take the time to read them there are 150 Psalms, 65 that deal with issues that trouble the heart and cause suffering to the soul. Read the rest of Psalm 102, which begins with lament, but ends in praise.

Charles H. Spurgeon, often referred to as “the Prince of Preachers,” suffered with bouts of severe depression. He wrote: “Doesn’t God’s Word come to us like a soft rain shower, dispelling the fury of the flames? Isn’t it like fireproof armor, against which heat is powerless? Then let afflictions come, for God has chosen me. Poverty, you may walk through my door, but God is already in my house, and He has chosen me. Sickness, you may intrude into my life, but I have a ready cure – God has chosen me. Dear Christian, don’t be afraid, for Jesus is with you. Through all your fiery trials, His presence is both your comfort and safety. He’ll never forsake those He has chosen for His own.”

Yes, of course, Jesus followers suffer many hardships, losses, and pain, but rightly seen, they become measures used to increase our faith and trust in our loving Father, not to push us away or cause our faith to waver. And like the caring, compassionate Father He is, He sits with us, stands with us, or walks with us through every one of them.

Will we always understand why He allows those things? Likely not, but if we’ll hold the course, He’ll teach us things though pain that we can learn in no other way. What has He taught me through suffering and loss?

He’s taught me when everyone else is walking out, He’s not budging! I’ve learned when my faith is too weak to walk, He’ll carry me. I’ve learned that I’d better never forget in the darkness what I know to be true in the light. I’ve learned that His love for me sees just as clearly without light as it does with light.

He taught me that loneliness is a state of mind, not a spiritual reality. I now know without question that His promises are true and need never be doubted, regardless of our circumstances. I’ve learned that the Bible is true from cover to cover, that His life in me is worth whatever I have to endure to see His holy face when I kiss this earth goodbye.

Are there things I can’t explain in terms of what goes on in this world? Without question! If I would let them, the evils of this world would rob me of whatever measure of joy I could muster, but I’ve learned not to focus on things I can’t change but cast my gaze on the One who can.

One day all wrongs will be made right. The crimes that were “unsolved” on earth will all be solved, and on the other side, punishment will be rendered. No one “gets by” with anything in eternity.

I think of the ones today who because of power, prestige, and position can rob children of their childhoods, create terror in the hearts and minds of parents and grandparents; their drugs ruin untold numbers of lives while their lawlessness cuts short the lives of millions. I think of those who believe their money can buy them privilege, which it might in this life, but certainly not in the next.

I’ve learned that sooner than any of us can imagine, this life will end and all that will matter then is to be God’s chosen.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊