Suffering isn\u2019t my favorite thing. It comes in different packages, and my family has had our share. Yours, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of us understand all too well David\u2019s cry: \u201cSave me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul….I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me\u201d (Psalm 69:1-2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My translation: I\u2019m up to my neck, trying to keep my head above water!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know why God allows people who love him to experience suffering. But I\u2019m certain he has a purpose for everything he allows to touch our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI don\u2019t know why God allows people who love him to experience suffering. But I\u2019m certain he has a purpose for everything he allows to touch our lives. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Years ago, reading Hannah Whitall Smith\u2019s The Christian\u2019s Secret of a Happy Life<\/em>, I found a perspective that changed my life. \u201cEverything comes to us from the hand of God; there are no second causes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t explain it, and I certainly don\u2019t want to argue the point. All I know is, if God isn\u2019t in total control, who is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible convinces me God does everything with purpose. While studying I make notes when I come across the term so that<\/em>. God did this\u2026so that. Purpose!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t you think we can withstand anything if we know God has a purpose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our grief is not having a clue what he\u2019s doing. A friend said, \u201cI know God has a purpose, but it\u2019s killing me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This verse satisfies me in places where I see no purpose: \u201c\u2026you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised\u201d (Hebrews 10:36 Amplified).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you notice so that<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In baffling circumstances when I struggle to make sense of what\u2019s going on, I remind myself God has a purpose\u2014if nothing else, to develop patience and endurance, so that<\/em> I may accomplish his will and enjoy his promises to the full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t have to see<\/em> God\u2019s purpose to know<\/em> he has a purpose. And I can be certain he never wastes an experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard places are just that…hard. But I\u2019ve learned God is interested in more than our comfort. He wants our lives to reflect his glory. Uncomfortable circumstances give us a great opportunity to reflect his character.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHard places are just that...hard. But I\u2019ve learned God is interested in more than our comfort. He wants our lives to reflect his glory. Uncomfortable circumstances give us a great opportunity to reflect his character. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n He may put us in a place we don\u2019t understand and give little or no explanation. He never let Job in on the plan when he allowed Satan to unleash everything he had to blow him off the map. Job held fast and said, \u201cThough he slay me, yet will I trust him\u2026\u201d (Job 13:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n He declared with confidence, \u201cBut he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold\u201d (Job 23:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re in a hard place by divine design, hold fast. Trust God to show himself strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him\u2026\u201d (2 Chronicles 16:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes I think God thinks I’m stronger than I really am,\u201d someone said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth: I will never be stronger than I am right now because God is my strength and he won\u2019t be stronger tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTruth: I will never be stronger than I am right now because God is my strength and he won\u2019t be stronger tomorrow. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n We have an enemy who colors with black crayons, making our circumstances look dismal. In every circumstance he has a strategy\u2014to convince us God is not good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truth: God is good. Our circumstances don\u2019t alter that fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We may never, this side of heaven, understand the purpose, but believing God has a purpose enables us to trust him in suffering, no matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the fifth key to dispensing the sweet fragrance of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you acquainted with suffering? In the comment box please share how God has carried you through hard places. And encourage your friends by sharing this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2018 (reprinted)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Suffering isn\u2019t my favorite thing. It comes in different packages, and my family has had our share. Yours, too? Many of us understand all too well David\u2019s cry: \u201cSave me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul….I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me\u201d (Psalm 69:1-2). My translation: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,333,67,300,678],"class_list":["post-1545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dianne-barker","tag-god-has-a-purpose","tag-hard-places","tag-strength","tag-suffering-trust-god-no-matter-what-2"],"yoast_head":"\n