Eastern Sierra, CA
Trials and suffering can often move us toward a feeling of hopelessness as we struggle through what may seem like a never ending stream of pain and bad news.
But the trying times we experience are not some random events that are without purpose- they are tools in the hands of a loving God who is trying to get our attention and draw us to Himself.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” What is it we are not hearing? We don’t want to hear the truth that we are separated from God by our sin, by valuing things in this world more than God and by living our own way rather than obeying His. One day we will all stand before a perfectly holy and just God and will have to answer for our choices, our actions, even our thoughts that did not honor Him. God’s standard is perfection (holiness) and none of us have lived a perfect life and deserve to go to heaven.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23
But God. (Here’s the good news!) But God made a way for us to stand guiltless before Him, by sending His Son Jesus to earth to live and die in our place as the payment for our sin. Anyone who admits they are a sinner, turns away from their sin, and believes that Jesus died to pay the penalty they deserve, will be forgiven and reconciled to God.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - 1 Timothy 1:15
True hope exists today- not in a place or procedure or prognosis, but in the person of Jesus Christ. He alone can provide lasting hope and peace in our current trials and for all of eternity.
If you would like to know more about Jesus, I invite you to follow the link below to learn more about this Good News:
In this message, John Piper addresses the question of what God is doing in the pain of the world:
