I have a friend who has been in extreme suffering for a few weeks. I realize suffering is something most Christians don’t want to talk about.
Before I begin this writing, allow me to make one thing clear; I do not believe sickness is ever from God. I do not believe lack is from God. I don’t believe that God puts things on us to teach us lessons…that is my belief. He sent His word (His Son) and healed us and that settles it for me.
That being said, we all go through times of suffering, I know I have. I have suffered physically, mentally and financially. I have gone through seasons that I did not think I would make it through. I will admit, that during several of those seasons I felt God could have brought me out quicker than he did. But one thing I know, he never left me, he walked through them with me.
Many believe Christians should never suffer, I would love for that to be true and I believe as we walk more and more with God, closer and closer to him that the suffering becomes less and less as we learn to walk in who we are. However, we live in this world where much of what we do causes the suffering in our bodies, not all the time, but some of the time. The things we eat, the things we do or don’t do will bring suffering to our bodies.
It is the same with finances, many times the things we do or fail to do cause us to have financial suffering.
In other times we are doing all we know to do and doing everything as correctly as we know to do and suffering still comes, it may be through the loss of someone we love or a simple crash in the economic system we live in. Whatever the reason, suffering does come.
It truly does rain on the just and the unjust…the difference is we have an umbrella of hope. As I have prayed for my friend, God has made it clear to me that my position is to stand and pray and worship him for her healing.
It’s telling to me that just before this sickness began God had me send her a scripture. It was in Revelations and it said ‘come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.’ Once sickness hit her and it hit with a vengeance, I took comfort in these scriptures knowing that there would be an ‘after this’ and that God wanted her to keep her focus on him. That’s not an easy thing to do when you are suffering.
This past weekend I was praying for her and God reminded me of another scripture and had me send it to her. It is found in Romans 8:18; For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
As I have already said, many of us suffer. We go through things that we would rather not go through but for those who believe and trust in this awesome God;, it is not the end of the story. There is an ‘after this’ and there is a time when a glory from God will be revealed in you that cannot be compared to anything else. A glory beyond anything you could ever think or imagine.
I know this is true. I have lived it. I suffered when my brother and sister left this earth. I suffered when my business crumbled. I suffered when I went through different kinds of infirmity. I suffered when I went through lack. But looking back…where I am in God and He is in me at this present time, it doesn’t compare. I wouldn’t trade His presence, at this dimension, in my life for anything and it keeps getting stronger day by day.
Friends, I want to encourage you today, if you are suffering…there is an after this…just come up higher, come into Him, trust Him. There is a glory being released on your behalf, breathe it in…bask in it…and know He has a good plan for you, a hope and a future, and it is all in Him. He is coming and His reward is surely with Him.
