JEREMY THORNTON (cont.)
Where is God when I need Him the most? It is a fallacy on our part to think that God is not available when we are under duress, pain, and suffering. “ The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry” ( Psalm 34: 15 KJV). God is “the God of all comfort” and “comforts us in our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
When we need God the most, God is listening, comforting, caring, and providing.
God provides “the peace that passes all understanding” which is made available to us when we go to Him in prayer (Phil. 4:6-7). Not only does God provide peace through consulting Him in prayer, but He also provides peace through the church. It is the church that is to “bear one another's burdens” (Gal. 6:1), and it is the “effectual fervent prayer” of the righteous that “prevails much” (James 5:17). We can have “confidence” that God will hear our prayers (1 John 5:14) when we are suffering. What is my response to pain and suffering?
Knowing that God is the giver of all good and perfect gifts, and that His peace is offered to me when I am in need, the only response I can have to pain, and suffering is to trust in Him. “ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” ( Proverbs 3: 5- 6 KJV).
with trials and suffering, he trusted in the Lord (Job 1:21). When Paul asked earnestly for the Lord to remove his pain and suffering (“thorn in the flesh”) he trusted in the Lord's grace that was sufficient for him (2 Cor 12:9). When Jesus was about to face death on the cross, and He was grieved to the point of sweating blood and asking three times that the “cup” pass from Him, He trusted that the Lord's will would be done (Luke 22:42ff.).
When we are facing trials and tribulations that seem too heavy to bear, we must trust in the Lord, and the Lord that provides the good, will provide peace in the pain.
God has sent His Son to endure our ultimate pain and suffering so we will not “perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
We will not make it out of this world alive, but God has promised rest to those that trust in Him.
“ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” ( Revelation 21: 37 KJV).
Jeremy Thornton is Minister of Highway 77 Church of Christ in Marion, Arkansas.
