When we do not seek God’s will in our lives we open ourselves up for the consequences that exist because of our actions. Contrary to much Christian teaching, when we ARE seeking God’s will we open ourselves up for the consequences that exist because of our actions. Consequences always exist. God created life that way.
God is good and full of mercy. His judgment and wrath are reserved for the time after earth passes away at the great Judgment when we shall all stand accountable for all we have done in this life. When you and I experience unpleasant circumstances, they are the c consequences of living in a fallen world. Seeking God’s will doesn’t give you a pass against unpleasant circumstances. Poverty, illness, pain, audits, death – these are just a few of the consequences of our fallen world. Some circumstances are just simply a result of this fallen world, like earthquakes and tornados. Some circumstances are a result of someone else exhibiting their free will, such as theft or rape. Some circumstances are a result of our own actions and their resulting consequences, such as contracting an STD from being sexually active. However, it is not always evident which one created the consequence. A faithful wife could contract an STD from an unfaithful husband. Judgment of whose fault resulted in a consequence is not ours to make.
However, God loves you and does not want to see you experience unnecessary pain. He can teach you things through pain, sometimes more easily than through comfort (God is our comfort, you can trust in God, you can have a grateful heart despite your circumstances, etc.), but it is not His good, pleasing and perfect will to put you in suffering. We know this is true because before the Fall Adam and Eve lived in paradise with no suffering, pain or unpleasantness. It was only after sin entered the world that all of those things entered the world. God can use them, and any circumstance, for His glory, but that wasn’t the original design. He does not delight in your suffering.
God desires to limit unnecessary suffering, just as a parent wants to limit the suffering of their child. However, to limit suffering sometimes a certain level of suffering is still required. As a parent, you do not want your child to contract the measles, which would cause several days if not weeks of high fever, sores, aches, pains and possibly even death. So instead, you show your mercy by allowing a doctor to administer a vaccination against measles. Now the child may not understand why you are allowing him to suffer, as the shot is painful and might even cause a fever for a few hours or a day. It hurts you to see them suffer, but you know you are saving them from much more suffering.
So it is with our heavenly Father. You may never know what greater pain He is saving you from, but you can rest assured that He is Love! (1 John 4:8) And He has good thoughts about you and good things in store for you. (Jeremiah 29:11)
God taught me this lesson very clearly this week. I used to think that as long as I wasn’t sinning I was free to do whatever I want. This is true because “Christ has set us free to live a free life.” Galatians 5:1 However, the Bible also says that “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” So, how do we balance these two statements and live in the tension that exists?
Our ministry in India has been very exhausting—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We leave our house and take a rickshaw ten minutes to the train station, then between waiting on trains and the people we’re meeting and actually riding one to three trains we depart another train station thirty minutes to three hours later. We then walk ten minutes to an hour to our ministry location where we give testimonies, worship, preach, pray, or play with kids for the following one to ten hours before beginning the journey back home: Walking ten minutes to an hour, waiting on and riding on trains for thirty minutes to an hour, and then another ten minute rickshaw home. Our days are spent with people of unfathomable poverty, prostitutes with AIDS, orphaned children and most all of whom are bound for hell. It all takes a burden on our hearts and bodies.
We get one day off a week, and I didn’t’ want to “waste” it so I looked up some touristy places and decided Elephant Island sounded exciting. So instead of taking a day of rest, I along with two other teammates, set off on another grueling day: ten minute rickshaw to the train, an hour and a half of waiting for and riding on trains, ten minute cab ride, an hour of walking and waiting for lunch, and hour long boat ride, two and a half hours of walking around on the island, an hour boat ride back and then twenty minutes of walking to Starbucks to meet another teammates before another hour train ride home. Unfortunately I hadn’t asked God what He wanted for me that day because it was MY day off. And I wasn’t doing anything sinful, so it’s all good right? The migraine that developed on the boat ride home would suggest otherwise.
Now if you’ve never had a migraine let me tell you the four triggers that make your head feel like it’s going to explode and make you nauseated and miserable: light, noise, smells and movement. All you want to do is lay in a dark quiet place and pray for sleep. Let me tell you the LAST place anyone wants to be with a migraine is on an hour long train ride in India. Sixty people crowded on a car all talking, horns of passing trains blaring, various indescribable smells assaulting your nostrils, training jerking to a hault and lurching into movement every ten minutes while swaying like a drunken man inbetween stops. I wanted to die. Never on the race have I wanted to come home until this moment. I was beyond miserable! I’ve only had a migraine a handful of times in my life, but this was the worst because of the conditions. Each sound, smell and motion made it worse. With each heartbeat I thought my skull would crack open.
As I lay in bed the following morning after finally arriving home the night before, I realized I’d never asked God what He wanted me to do on my day off. I never asked because my flesh still desires independence from God. It was MY day off, and I could do with it what I wanted. But you can’t take a day off from God, and you can’t take a day off from obedience to God’s will. Now God wasn’t punishing me for disobedience by giving me a migraine. The migraine was simply a consequence of not giving my body the rest it needed.
As I lay in bed I asked God what He would have told me if I’d asked His will on my day off. He said He would have told me to stay home and rest and fast and pray. Now in hindsight I would have gladly done that! I’d had a miserable day and would have gladly given it up. But the truth is I was rebelling by not even asking God what His plans were for me that day. I thought I knew better. And to be honest, if I had asked I don’t think I would have liked His answer. I would have felt cheated by God. That He was punishing me and keeping me from having fun. But, the truth is through the suffering of obedience to God’s will (giving up my will and not enjoying Subway and Starbucks and sightseeing) He was really protecting me from much greater suffering of the migraine. They say hindsight is 20/20, but faith gives you foresight, even if you never see what you were protected from. I’d rather be blindly walking through this life following my Father than thinking I can see it all and making decisions based on my finite knowledge and understanding.
Ultimately the question is: Do I trust God? Trust that He has the best for me, even when I’m suffering and sacrificing? Even in pain and trails? Or do I think He is delighting in my pain and holding out on me? What do I really believe about the character and nature of God?
What do you believe? Do you really trust God? Even when He is allowing you to suffer?
