Suffering Is Never For Nothing: 7-Day DevotionalSample

Day 5 

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Psalms 34:1 CSB

I’d like for us to think about two things that ought to distinguish Christians from the rest of the world. And to be quite honest, as I traveled around and met all kinds and varieties of Christians, I’m dismayed to notice that very often there doesn’t seem to be any difference in the way they live and the way the rest of the world lives, in the way they respond to the experiences of their lives and the way the world would respond. In other words, if they were arrested for being Christians, would there be sufficient evidence to convict them? 

Two things that certainly ought to distinguish you and me and everyone who calls himself a Christian are acceptance and gratitude. And it’s very difficult to draw a sharp distinction between them. 

But when we’re talking about the gifts of God, we’re talking about gifts that come from One who knows exactly what we need even though it is not necessarily to our tastes and

preferences. And He gives us everything that is appropriate to the job that He wants us to do. And so, understanding that, then we can say yes, Lord. I’ll take it. It would not have been my choice but knowing You love me, I will receive it and I understand that someday I’m going to understand the necessity for this thing. So I accept it. And then I can even go the step beyond and say thank You. Thank You, Lord.

Paul says that in everything we ought to give thanks. It’s not the experiences of our lives that change us. It is our response to those experiences. And that should be a very noticeable distinction between the Christian and the non-Christian.

You can imagine the dialogues that I began having with God when I found out my second husband had cancer. “Lord, haven’t we been through this once before? You took husband number one. Now surely Lord, you wouldn’t take Ad, would you?” And it was as if the Lord said, “I might. Trust me.” So I had to begin all over again, I thought, learning lessons that I really thought I had learned well enough before. I was saying, “Lord, did I flunk the test? Do we have to go over this again?” And the answer was, “Yes, you have to go over it again.”

Now where do you turn? What do you do? You cry. You pray. You ask why? But then there’s a much better thing to do that is stated in this verse that I read you. “He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me; to him who orders his way aright I will show the salvation of God!” (Ps. 50:23 rsv). Now there are a good many circuitous routes to learning to know God. But there are some shortcuts. And I’m here to suggest that gratitude is one of those shortcuts.

Just start thanking God in advance because no matter what is about to happen, you already know that God is in charge. You are not adrift in a sea of chaos.

So, what is there to be grateful for in the midst of suffering? Well, God is still love. Nothing has changed that. God is still God. He’s sovereign. He’s got the whole world in His hands.