A little ago, we were listening to a devotional by a GFA staff member during one of our prayer meetings, sharing about the parable of the tenants in Mark 12. How the lord of the vineyard sent the servants to collect fruit from the vineyard and they were beaten, killed etc. The Lord of the vineyard knew what would happen from the beginning to the end, including that His Son would be killed. Why would He keep sending them if He was God and knew what was going to happen?
In another message (We get a lot of good teaching 😉) that we heard by Joni Eareckson Tada, she shared on the theology of suffering, and how God is able to use the evil in our lives and use it for our good (yes, good) and His glory, that wouldn’t have been possible if those bad things were not in our lives.
When I hear something more than once, it gets my attention. God can and will use the suffering in my life for good. Too often, I view what God is doing and has done in my life with a less than joyful attitude, viewing it almost as if it was of lesser quality. However, He has a plan and knows what is best for me, even if it isn’t what I would choose or plan.
I wouldn’t think that it would be very helpful for me to have seasonal allergies this Fall; however, things have gone differently then I would have planned, and I now have seasonal allergies. I know that this is just a small example of suffering; I don’t want to make light of the greater trials that others all over the world are going through.
Sometimes God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.
Joni Eareckson Tada
I don’t know what God is going to teach me through my seasonal allergies, or how He will use it for His glory. It may be simply a small amount of patience or dependence on Him. I can live in faith, that he knows what is best for me. I want to grow to trust Him, knowing that He is the finest Author who is writing my story, even it doesn’t appear to be all happily ever afters. My life is not my own.