How can we be the apple of God’s eye, and still be marked for suffering?
You’re the apple of God’s eye, yet you’re marked for suffering.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and it is the most perplexing mystery for any Christian. I mean, how is it that we can be so loved, so cherished, valued by God; how is it that he calls us his precious beloved, and then he assigns to us the furnace of affliction? To many people, actually, I think to most Christians, it’s a puzzle that can’t be pieced together. Like, okay, so we’re God’s treasured possession, yet he ordains for us painful trials. We are his blood-bought sons and daughters, but he allows all sorts of buffetings. We are immeasurably blessed by God, but also bruised. I mean, come on, we’re jewels in his crown, but he demands that we bear a cross. We’re his precious inheritance, but he lets hardships overwhelm us.
Now, if you were guided only by your feelings, all these things would be a problem. But we are people of the Word, and the Holy Spirit tells us plainly in 1 Thessalonians 3:3 to “let no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.” Wow, did you hear that? Even though we are God's treasured possession, purchased through the blood, jewels in his crown, and immeasurably blessed by him, still, he destines us for pain and suffering. In other words, life is supposed to be difficult. Yet it is amazing how many people believe that life should be easy. They bemoan the enormity of their problems, feeling as though their difficulties are an exception to the rule. Well, according to 1 Thessalonians, difficulties are the rule. Life is a series of problems to be solved. Sure, it’s a painful process, but it is this whole process that gives our life meaning. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” And long, long before him, David said in Psalm 119:71, “It [is] good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”
So friend, be strengthened and encouraged. Do not be unsettled by your trials; take the advice of James 1 and welcome them because not only has God destined this particular trial for you, he has purpose for it, a plan. Because there’s a complaining spirit in you that might need to be exposed. There is faith that needs to be refined. There is a witness that needs to be proved to onlookers. There is your soul which needs to be made roomier for the Spirit. And there is your heart that needs to be strengthened. Trials are not for your pleasure, they are for your profit. And once you accept this truth, you are able to transcend every trial; it no longer is distressing; it becomes part of that purpose, that plan of God’s. Once you truly know that life is supposed to be difficult, then life is difficult no longer.
Believe me, I needed to hear myself say all this today. This day when I feel nearly crushed by my quadriplegic-issues; and pain makes my eyes look like slits, my cheeks flushed and red, and my brain feels foggy. I am destined for this trial. And so, it is no mystery; it’s no puzzle to me. It is God's plan and purpose, and he always can be trusted, right? If God loves me enough to send his own son to die for me, then surely, he can be trusted. Surely, he has proved himself trustworthy in my pain. And so, you who are loved, cherished, and valued by God; you who are his precious beloved, trust him when he assigns to you a place in his furnace of affliction.
© Joni and Friends