Is it realistic for Christians to expect to be carried to Heaven on a bed of ease because they are “good” and faithful? After all, doesn’t God have the power to protect his children from life’s perils and pains? Plus, the Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that, “God is love.”
“Lord, why me?”
A good friend of mine called me the other day with an uncharacteristically somber tone in his voice. Normally bright, cheery and “up,” he was anything but.
His wife was showing ominous signs of serious neurological dysfunction, and it wasn’t going away but getting worse. He knew it was bad and they were going through the medical testing gauntlet to confirm their suspicions.
My friend called to cry, pray and try to wrap his mind around how this could happen to two trusting Christians, living for God, and committed to His purposes for their lives.
This is the sweetest, most devoted couple I have ever known. They knew I’d been through similar “trials” and were curious about how I made sense of my wife’s debilitating illness.
Then I was reminded of this quote by Joni Eareckson Tada: “Sometimes God permits what He hates to accomplish that which He loves.”
Why not me?
Since time began, believers have tried to reconcile their faith in a good God, who is love personified, in the face of the jarring gong of life’s many unbidden and unexpected misfortunes.
This one was a biggie for my friend. Early indications pointed to a life-disrupting, degenerative disease that could completely derail their future dreams and plans.
It’s natural to think: “Hey, I’ve been doing things your way God: Bible studies, praying, church, witnessing, etc. Now this!?!”
There is a subtle kind of bargain in such thinking … not consciously, but in the back of our mind, “I do my part, and you do yours God.”
It’s as if we can fall into the trap of believing that a strong faith equates to a life of uninterrupted bliss and blessing. Is that stuff true?
Romans 8:28, an often-misunderstood verse of scripture, goes like this: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
God is not going to turn every Christian’s earthly life into a “rose garden.” There will be sickness, accidents, financial reversals, etc. and can seem catastrophic at the time, but are promised to ultimately work for our welfare in God’s hands.
Of course, this promise only applies to His own children.
The apostles weren’t spared either.
If anyone should have expected a free ride, it would have been the Apostle Paul, considering all he was doing for God, yet he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:8-11; 16-17:
“… We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who live are constantly being handed over to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.”
Yet through it all, Paul concluded, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison …”
The Apostle Peter echoed Paul’s experience, in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.”
It’s all about expectations.
Truth be known, no one gets a cushy ride to Heaven on a bed of ease. God often has important work to do within us that can only be accomplished through affliction, so don’t be shocked at trials that seem to come from nowhere.
God will never allow anything into our lives that He hasn’t already provided the grace to endure. Trust Him. There are no “accidents” nor is there meaningless suffering where God is concerned.
For more on this difficult subject, read A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. Also, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis.
How About You?
Still asking God, “Why me?” Does the clay get to ask the potter what he’s making?
If you could somehow get into God’s head and see things from His perspective, and see the “eternal weight of glory” being formed in you, your trials would pale in comparison.
God loves you and wants the best for you, and that can include honing your faith as you experience the challenges of life.
— D.C. Collier is a Bible teacher, discipleship mentor and writer focused on Christian apologetics. A mechanical engineer and internet entrepreneur, he is the author of My Origin, My Destiny, a book focused on Christianity’s basic “value proposition.” Click here for more information, or contact him at don@peervalue.com. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.