I met her last week in the market when she greeted me in
English and we began to chat about this and that. She’s from Swaziland (a small, English-speaking
country neighboring Mozambique and South Africa), but married a Mozambican and
has raised her family here as well. She
sells children’s clothes at a stall in the market. She was excited to hear that I’m a Christian
and urged me to come back because she wanted to “talk about Jesus” and her name
is Zanele. I only wish I had met her
earlier. Since last week she’s bought
some things I’m getting rid of and more importantly I have had some good
conversations with her. She also makes
sure to introduce me to other Christians working in the market. She does love Jesus but is struggling with the
issue of suffering…last year her first born died in a car accident and this
year her second born was imprisoned. So
I had the privilege of sharing one of my favorite Scriptures with her, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves receive from God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also
through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.
 |
| Zanele |
God’s goodness, love, faithfulness, omnipotence, etc. is
often in question when people experience difficulty, heart ache and
suffering. Often we feel insignificant,
unloved or even abandoned by God while experiencing suffering and
difficulty. But you know what? Jesus
never said “Follow Me and your life will be easy”.
Earlier today I was listening to sermon by Francis Chan and
he was saying how people will say “There must not be a God because I am
suffering like this…”And he responded “That’s right; there isn't a god who
revolves around you, whose primary concern is your personal happiness and
comfort, but there is a much bigger God who has His own purposes and is
concerned about His own glory.”
Scripture clearly tells us that we were created by Him and for Him
(Colossians 1:16), for His pleasure, not for Him to become our servant. Chan also brought to light that many people
have a man-centered theology in which God exists to help me, serve me, bless me
instead of a God- centered theology in which I exist to serve God, obey God and
please God.
That being said, suffering and experiencing pain is not fun
or easy but often God uses these things to teach us. James 1 tells us that we should consider our
trials “pure joy” because it is through these trials that we learn and develop
perseverance. Psalm 119:71 says “It was
good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” I think God allows so much difficulty in our
lives to teach us- painful experiences can be valuable teachers, especially
to stubborn people. He allows adversity
because he wants us to rise up, claim our God-given authority as daughters and
sons, and fight in the spiritual realm.
It is also during times of difficulty that we become more aware of our
own frailty and need for God; I think we’re more likely to cling to Him in
times of difficulty than when circumstances are easy. In addition, He longs for
us to run to Him to comfort us and restore us in times of hurt and pain. He promises that He will not leave us nor
forsake us- but whether or not we choose to believe Him is up to us. We can choose to believe God and what his
word says about suffering even when experiencing the most difficult things, or
we can choose to follow our own understanding and claim God doesn't care
because we don’t sense His love. We have to choose to believe and trust God
despite difficulty.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding, acknowledge in all your ways and he will make your paths
straight.” Proverbs 3:5&6
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are my
ways your ways,” declares the Lord. “As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and
my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8 &9
In closing, I want to share a faith story that impacted me greatly. In September I met a young woman with a
beautiful countenance named Sharon. Her
mother grew up in China, where no religion is allowed, and had been taught that
God isn't real, and her heart was hardened toward God. A few years ago, Sharon’s mother had cancer,
and so Sharon prayed that God would heal her mother, and soften her heart so
she would trust Jesus as her Savior and Lord. Her mother died of cancer yet turned to God
before she breathed her last breath. In spite of her mother’s death, Sharon just
said she had to trust and believe that God is good- that’s the key.
Sharon told me this in response to me expressing how I was carrying
the heaviness of having a friend with AIDS who could easily die soon. I was
trying to let go of the burden but just couldn't. After sharing her story I could release the
burden of my sick friend, and fully trust God with her life, whether she lived
or died. I feel like I “borrowed her
faith”; seeing her faith and trust in God allowed me to take that next step of
faith.
