Lessons from the Valley - part next

Suffering is a part of life (It's part of the valley experience)

As I have traveled this journey through the valley I have become acquainted with suffering in its various forms. I have suffered as a minister torn between my desire to serve God's people and to serve my wife. I have encountered the suffering of a husband who can only sit and watch the greatest gift God has bestowed upon me writhe in pain, unable to "fix it" or make it better in any way, except to pray. As a man I have come to truly know the suffering of circumstance-imposed celibacy and the earthly temptations that accompany it.

Somehow, somewhere, we've adopted the idea that once we receive Christ we will live happily ever after. We have bought into the notion that life in Christ is supposed to be about hugging each other, smiling all the time, holding hands and singing Kum By Ya. Where did that come from? Who decided that the middle of God's will is the safest place to be? Tell Jesus, Paul, eleven of the Apostles, the prophets and those referred to in the end of Hebrews 11. They all suffered while they were right smack dab in the middle of God's will for their life.

In his books, The Barbarian Way and An Unstoppable Force Erwin Mcmanus challenges the notion that the safest place for Christians is in the middle of God’s will by saying that the most dangerous place to be is in the middle of God's will. It was in the middle of God’s will that Paul was stoned, beaten with rods, shipwrecked, left cold and naked. It was in the middle of God’s will that Stephen, after boldly presenting the gospel was stoned to death. It was also in the middle of God’s will that Jesus was beaten, mocked, spat upon, and went to the cross for you and me. No one will ever convince me that being in the middle of God’s will is safe. If you want safe stay away from God’s will. If you want to see the Kingdom of God moved forward jump feet first into the middle of God’s will and hang on!

But...God does provide grace. In the midst of the valley, in the midst of suffering in its various forms, I have been blessed to know and experience the grace of God it its various forms. Through people who come and stay with Karen during the night, sacrificing their own rest to make sure she gets her medication at the appropriate hour, to the continued gifts of food, encouragement and prayers. I have experienced the grace of God through encouragement and the through wonderful words of wisdom from friends, fellow co-laborers in Christ, and family. This is not to mean suffering doesn't or won't take place, it just means God will provide the remarkable grace to get us through it. Suffering will happen. Don't believe me look at God's Word. Suffering is a part of life, it most especially a part of the life of those pursuing the heart of God.