By Martin Morrison
This is one of our top devotions of 2020 published on the 23rd of July 2020. Find the full article here
I tried God but it didn’t work
Where is God when I am going through suffering?
Where is God when it is so agonising?
Why do I so often bring failure and disappointment to myself and others?
Why is life filled with failure and trials? My own and others?
You will never understand the Christian life if you don’t understand the big picture. Paul has been at great pains throughout Romans 8 to affirm that those who are in Christ have the Spirit of God living within them; has Christ living within them; are co-heirs with Christ.
And yet at the very same time, we experience hardship, suffering and groaning. These two experiences are not mutually exclusive, but are mutually co-existent. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us”. There are two phrases in Romans 8:18 which explain the Christian life in a nutshell. Present suffering; Future glory. It is only when you understand these two phrases, that you will understand why you so often fail yourself; fail others; why your body gives you trouble; why the world is so broken.
Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life, said this when in his 60’s and his wife Kay was diagnosed with cancer.
“Life is a series of problems; either you are in one now, or you are just coming out of one, or you are getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making you holy than he is in making you happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that is not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the toughest year of my life, with my wife getting cancer. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys. I don’t believe that anymore. Life is more like two rails on a railway track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for”. He wrote that before the suicide of his eldest son!
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us”. Romans 8:18. Paul, who suffered enormous physical persecution and opposition nonetheless tells us that in this age there will be real and extreme pain. But compared to the age to come, there is simply no comparison. This present suffering is like dust on the scales of future glory…Keep Reading