All Things

If all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16-17) and, therefore, not merely a human product, but a divine output, it would stand to reason that some Scripture would seem … not right. No, that was too soft. It would seem wrong, not what we expect, counterintuitive. Because God is not us; His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isa 55:8-9). And Scripture certainly is counterintuitive on occasion. Take the concept of pain.

Every normal human being has a natural response to pain. It is flight. It is withdrawal. It is protection. You don't think about it when you touch a hot stove; you yank your hand back. It's natural. And we tend toward the same innate approach in all sorts of human pain, from the physical to the emotional and on down the line. The programming goes something like this. "If pain, withdraw. If cannot withdraw, shelter in place and shield." So we build up protections and calluses and scar tissue. We put barriers in place to avoid previously painful relationships. We even get seared consciences (1 Tim 4:2). Whatever it takes to protect ourselves from pain.

And then, there is Scripture.

In Paul's second epistle to the church at Corinth he wrote about a difficult time. He referred to it as "a messenger of Satan" and "a thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor 12:7). His first response was what we would expect. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this." (2 Cor 12:8) No help. Then God told Him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9) So Paul responded, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9-10) Paul embraced his weaknesses.

This isn't the only time this occurs in Scripture. The Book of Lamentations is a book from the prophet Jeremiah about, you guessed it, his lament. Everything was gone. His people had been carried off into captivity. God's promised judgment had occurred. Everything was ruined. And Jeremiah wept. In the 3rd chapter he complained about God. For 20 verses he bemoaned God's treatment -- God's wrath, Jeremiah's suffering, God's deafness to his prayers, Jeremiah's travail. "My endurance has perished," he said, "so has my hope from the LORD." (Lam 3:18) Pain. Time to withdraw or protect. But then he says, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.'" (Lam 3:21-24) Note that Jeremiah doesn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Nor does he attempt to minimize his own pain. He doesn't make excuses or expect better days. What he does do is embrace his one and only hope -- "The LORD is my portion." He sees hope in hopelessness by looking to God. Not to better circumstances, but to God Himself. Jeremiah walked through the pain.

One other similar story; a familiar one, I'm sure. They were three friends of Daniel in Babylon. They got caught refusing to bow to an idol (Dan 3:12). The penalty was to be cast into a "burning fiery furnace." (Dan 3:11) (I guess "furnace" wasn't enough. Nor was "fiery furnace." Apparently a really, really hot furnace was on tap.) You remember the story. Faced with the option to bow or burn, they told the king, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace." (Dan 3:17) Escape, see? But, no. They went on to say, "But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Dan 3:18) Like Jeremiah and Paul, these three opted to embrace the pain rather than avoid it based on their relationship with God. No protection. No defense. God was enough. And you remember how that came out. There was "a fourth man" in there with them (Dan 3:25) and when they came out, nothing was burned but their bonds.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds," James wrote, "for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4) We agree that that's just not natural. We don't "count it all joy." That's just crazy. Maybe in the "normal world," but not in God's economy. And you and I, family of God, are called to the same craziness. We're commanded to rejoice in the tough times (1 Thess 5:16-18) -- to embrace the suffering as a gift (Php 1:29) -- not because things will necessarily be more comfortable. They may; they may not. We rejoice because of God. It's because we have a relationship with a good and awesome and powerful God who always seeks what's best for us and we can trust Him in that. So we don't need to put up walls or develop calluses or run away from trials. In God's hand, we can be safe through the fire and know that it's the best. The world intends it for evil, but God intends it for good.