View the lyrics "The Hurt And The Healer"
Psalm 31:14-15 But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands.
Why? As the video says, we all want to know that we didn't go through trials and pain for no good reason. We go through times when we think that God isn't paying attention to what is going on. Sometimes we wonder if he is late or why he just won't cooperate.
Why is God late? If there isn't anything that God can't do then why isn't he doing something for me? Take a look at the delays that Jesus made before going to see Lazarus, the delay didn't make any sense to Lazarus family or the disciples, nobody was pleased with Jesus for a few days. (John 11)
Why is God inattentive? Jesus cousin, John the Baptist, must have felt that Jesus wasn't paying attention. John had given everything for Jesus to prepare the people for the arrival of the Messiah. John's struggles were just like any of us would have. Why didn't his own cousin who is so powerful bust him out of jail? (Matthew 11)
Why doesn't God cooperate? How many times have you tried to pray away a struggle and God doesn't seem to be willing to answer? The Apostle Paul wanted to get rid of a "thorn in the flesh" but God had other plans. You may want that thorn to go away but it may be something that God wants to use. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
Sometimes it looks like God isn't working in our lives, our circumstances begin to impact our confidence in God, we doubt that he loves us or if he cares about us. Our pain begins to distort reality and we think that God doesn't care when the truth is he cares and he wants to help grow your faith.
It is important to remember that your circumstances do not coincide with how God feels about you, the proof of that is at the cross, our knowledge of God's infinite love needs to be recalled when the doubts come our way. We went out of his way to prove his love to you and to provide a way for you to spent eternity with him.
We need help to see past our prison walls, our thorn in the flesh and the delays in our prayers and remember the goodness of God. As a gospel community we need to encourage each other to keep the faith and to grow our faith through these pivotal circumstances.
