Wednesdays with Grace

Why…?

As Christians, we understand that this world is broken.  So much so that it becomes familiar, or even routine to hear that this life will bring us many tribulations (Acts 14:22).  However, no amount of understanding can prepare us for the time when tragedy strikes with a force that shakes us to our core.  In that most painful and broken state, all there is left to do is to ask, “Why?”

In the moment, we may not find the answer, but God does help us understand a few things about our suffering.

It is not without purpose.  In the midst of unjust condemnation and facing death, Stephen was rewarded with a vision of the glory of God and Jesus (Acts 7:55).  Job, through his suffering, drew closer to God, gaining an entirely new perspective (Job 42:5).  Paul counted all of his suffering not as loss, but as gain in knowing Christ (Phil 3:10).

Christians do not suffer alone.  In Galatians 6:2, Paul makes it clear that the church is one body whose task is to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

The battle is won (John 16:33).  Jesus endured the cross, defeating death, so that every sorrow might be turned toward joy, for those who believe.

Oh, how we look forward to that day when our brief visions of God’s glory become constant sight!

Spencer Mitchell

Wednesday June 21 2023