The Best is Yet to Come

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

At a first glance of reading this, you might think whether this writer really knew much about suffering. How can his troubles be light and momentary, while mine are hard and never ending? If only he had seen my life – I am endlessly sick, I have no time for family or friends, I can’t work….  

Brother! Sister! Let me tell you - Paul, a passionate follower of Jesus, wrote this passage and he, by no means, had an ‘easy’ life. In 2 Corinthians 11:24, we read that five times Paul received forty lashes, three times he was beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked and constantly in danger at sea and from bandits, countrymen, Gentiles and false brothers.  He went long periods without sleep, battling hunger, thirst and cold, all whilst facing the  daily pressure of his concern for all the churches.

That’s a long list; so why in the world would Paul think that these troubles were “light” and “momentary”. Was he delusional? Did he love being persecuted? Did he enjoy being shamed? Of course not! He was hurt by the pain he faced, just like we are.

So if that’s not the case, maybe, we should re-read verse 17.  “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Paul appears to be making a comparison between his troubles and the eternal glory we have in Christ.  What he is trying to say is that all these sufferings and struggles, as horrible and painful as they are, are nothing when compared to our inheritance in Christ. If these are our troubles, our joy in heaven will be that much greater!

Earlier in 2 Corinthians, in chapter 4, verse 14, Paul reminds us that God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise us to be with Him and share in the above inheritance.  In 1 Peter 1:3-5, Peter, another passionate follower of Jesus, tells us about the glorious inheritance that awaits us because of Jesus – an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade. This is our joy, this is our inheritance – being adopted into God’s family and living with him forever. No harm or suffering in this world could compare to this joy that will be ours.

Does that seem a little incredulous?  Do you find that hard to believe?

Think of this – A woman in labour goes through unimaginable pain to have her child. This could take hours or even days. Childbirth has been described as one of the world’s most painful experiences; still, women go through this willingly all the time. Why?

Because of that moment - the moment when the nurse hands over the baby, when she holds him/her in her arms for the first time; she knows that it’s worth it. All the pain, hurt and suffering she went through cannot be compared to the joy, honour and the privilege of being a mother to that beautiful baby. It will be the same, if not more, with us when we go to heaven. I am sure that there will not be a soul in heaven who does not think that all of life’s suffering, were light and momentary compared to the eternal glory they then have.

Friends! What are your troubles? What causes you pain? Is it unemployment sickness, poverty, hunger or thirst? 

Do not lose heart. If you believe in Jesus and accept His death in your place, your eternal glory awaits you, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. 

Remember your troubles are temporary since your eternal life with Jesus will last forever and forever. Hold on to your inheritance, in faith, which is freely given to you through Jesus Christ.

This post is adapted from my contributions to EbenDavid Ministries & Charities newsletter. 

Unexpected delays & joys....

It has been about a month since my last post.. and apologies to all for that..
I have no other explanation for it except my lovely buddy, fibro..After a horribly difficult exam experience, followed by immense levels of pain & busyness, culminating in an interstate trip, my body had no spoons to maintain blogging..

But such is the life of a fibromite & in some ways, us all... Life never is a straight line; Strength comes and it goes.. and we sit strapped in the ride, ready to confront it all..

Having said that, life has had some good turns in the past month:

1. I have officially been put on the first set of working pain medications for my condition - I feel like the clock has turned backwards for me. On a good day, I have 50% less pain! 50% - that's huge for me! On a bad day, it's only a little relief, but it's still more relief than if I didn't have the pain killers... So what are these new wonder drugs you ask? They are Lyrica and Cymbalta. If you've never heard of these or you have not been previously prescribed pain medications for your fibro, it's worth having a chat to your GP about them - there are side effects and it is NOT PBS-covered so it is fairly pricey, but if it brings relief, it will probably be worth it.

2. My horrible exam experience which I mentioned earlier.. Today, there emerged a silver lining: I found out that I passed the exam! Hurrah! In some small way, the struggle & pain accomplished something - what a relief!

3. God has yet been faithful! Despite the ups and downs, and the crazy levels of pain and fatigue, he has been with me through it all. He has even restored some friendships and relationships for which I previously had no energy to pursue. He has strengthened old bonds and created new ones.

I don't know where your life is at today - Maybe you're enjoying the wind in your hair as you rise to new heights or maybe you're plummeting down the ride. Either way, hold on to your God and he will guide you through and be faithful to you!

"I delight in the Lord, 

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness."

Isaiah 61:10

The world often sucks but God is forever good

Today was just one of those days; you know the days I'm talking about: the ones where you think you really shouldn't have got out of bed.

The day starts off with expectation.. not the expectation of anything special, but the expectation of something to make life with your chronic illness just a little easier. You're not asking for a handout, but acknowledgement of the fact that you are trying to &  constantly accomplishing things far beyond your reach... You wait...but nothing comes.... You fight anyway, because you are determined to finish. You fight because you are determined to see your dreams come to life, even with the fifty sumo wrestlers sitting on your head & pain in every fibre of your being.. You fight. And you win. You look around but the world hasn't even stopped to notice.. Nobody seems to care.

On to the next dream.. You wait...You expect.. Once again, nothing happens..You fight, You win.... and on it goes... One by one, the weight of those sumo wrestlers & the pain grows.. until it's too much, until it shoves you to the ground and pummels you bit by bit. You try.. You wait.. You expect.. Nothing happens.. You have no fight left.

Today was one of those days. I was promised extra writing time on an exam. Five minutes before the exam started, they denied it to me. I looked across the room and my heart broke. There were others there - those with broken legs and all.. Of course, they deserved to be there, but so did I. Is not my pain counted as even comparable with a broken leg? Surely, it is ten times ten worse...There was nothing I could do. The pain and fatigue had been so high that I couldn't study much and sitting in the exam, I knew if something did not change, I was most definitely going to fail.. In fact, there was little point in sitting the exam at all. All that was left to do was cry.

Instead, I lifted my eyes to the One who can help & said if you want, please take away a little of this fatigue and pain to pass this exam. If not, I will surely fail. Just a little, please. What did God do? A million times more than that... Where everyone else had let me down, I kid you not, I barely had to wait a minute before he lifted almost 50% of the fatigue for a full half of the exam period. He helped me think; He helped me ignore unimaginable pain levels; He said there by my side, each minute. There were so many questions I hadn't even studied for because my brain fog stopped me from understanding anything but God's bigger than that.. How could tax law stand against its maker and mine, God! If you have fibromyalgia, I know you understand just how I was feeling and the impact of what God did for me. As I walked away, after it was over, my eyes welled up with tears of thankfulness (& pain as it grew each minute)...God said: When everyone fails in the 20% they promise you, I'll do for you 100% more than you can possibly imagine, expect or ask for. 

Truly, I know I said it once before this week already, but - If God is for us, who can stand against us? What can stand against us? Nothing! Not fibro! Not even unfair discrimination / lack of support.. Nothing! 

The world often sucks..... but God is forever good.

Could God be using my suffering for good?

Is there any chance that there is some method to this madness? Could some good actually be coming about by my illness, not just for me, but for others?

Here's a few things that might be accomplished by your illness/suffering:

1. Suffering deepens faith and holiness. (2Cor1:8-9)
Suffering has the effect of weaning us from the world and setting our hopes fully in God alone.
It builds compassion into us & those around us.

2. Suffering makes your cup increase. (2Cor4:17-18)
It not only gives us hope in heaven to endure suffering but it actually enlarges our capacity to enjoy God's glory both here and in the age to come.

3. Suffering is the price of making others bold. 
If he must, God will use the suffering of his devoted emissiaries to make a sleeping church wake up and take risks for God. Suffering wakes up those who have become apathetic due to life's comforts.

4. Suffering fills up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
This is not to say that Christ's afflictions were insufficient; merely that they are lacking, because they are not known and felt by people who were not at the cross. We not only carry the message of Christ's sufferings but suffer with Christ in way that others can see a glimpse of Christ's suffering through our own.

5. Suffering enforces the missionary command to go. 
Where comfort, affluence, prosperity, safety and freedom produce apathy and self centredness, suffering can result in more prayer, power and open purses.

6.  Suffering shows the world what is really important & of great worth.
Suffering is finally to show God's supremacy and his power and love to sustain us when we can't do anything to sustain ourselves. The reason we can rejoice in persecution is that the worth of our reward in heaven is so much greater than what we lose through suffering on earth; therefore, suffering with joy proves to the world that our treasure is in heaven & not on earth, and that this treasure is greater than anything the world has to offer.

Source: Chapter 4, Suffering & Sovereignty of God, Piper & Taylor

Be joyful, prayerful & thankful!

Sorry about the delay between the last posts. I've just begun working again, part-time & my body is struggling to cope with this change/increased activity. Over these difficult week, I've been greatly challenged on what it means to be thankful. Paul tells us:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I don't know about you, but I struggle with this one. Particularly, when things are really bad & the depression sets in, I can't seem to stop feeling the pressures of loneliness & I end up focusing on all the things I will never get the chance to do or have because of my illness.

Friends, let me be honest with you. Being thankful & joyful is counter-cultural. Our world entices us to always be wanting & waiting for what we do not have & to pay any cost, even debt, to get what we want - in fact, it is exactly this premise that the entire world of advertising relies on. From morning to night, we are bombarded with images of what we "need" to be cool, accepted & to fit in. It is not uncommon to hear of people disappointed with their current lot in life because they don't own a house or the latest car etc. All of this is fueled from the idea that we deserve a certain standard of living. We are owed it. So when we do not get it, we are disappointed.
As sons & daughters of God, we know we don't deserve any good thing in our lives. If God gave us what we deserved on a daily basis, that would mean death as the wages of our sin are death (Rom 6:23). We know that every good, and wonderful thing in our life is ONLY because of the sheer grace of God, shown to us in Jesus because he died for us, while we were still sinners.

I hear you saying, 'That's all good in theory, but if you've seen how bad my life is, you wouldn't be able to do what Paul's asking us in this passage." I would like to say three brief things in response:

1. Paul suffered. 
He was tortured, beaten, imprisoned, persecuted, stoned & basically tormented for being a Christian (2 Cor 11:25-28). No one could say that Paul didn't know suffering.

2. Everyone finds this difficult. 
I guarantee that most people, if not everyone, has atleast at one point in their life, struggled to be thankful or joyful. I'm not saying that everyone suffers the same amount. I do believe some of us suffer more intensely than others but the struggle to be joyful amidst depressing circumstances is something all of us find hard.

3. Being joyful, prayerful & thankful are all connected. 
In all these things, I don't believe Paul is just asking us to change our actions ie. perhaps by pinning the sides of our mouths up so that we are always smiling or by setting aside more time for prayer. I think Paul's asking us here to change our attitudes and mindset.

By choosing to be joyful, prayerful and thankful we are acknowledging that life is not just about us fulfilling our own needs and wants. Our life is about giving glory to God. Paul tells us in Romans 9:21 that God chooses some clay for noble purposes and some for common use. In the same way, I believe God chooses some of us to be healed and some of us to remain chronically ill; both so that God might be given glory. Being a Christian involves letting God sit in the driver's seat, even if it looks like he's driving us off a cliff, & knowing and trusting that He will, in all things ,work for the good of those who love Him.

If we are thank God for the good things in our lives (even if you can only think of one), then we can praise Him for it, which reminds us that He is God and in control of all things. This helps us pray for the things we know are lacking & for strength to endure, trusting in God's provision for us. This knowledge of trust helps us find joy, because we know are infinitely cared for & loved.

Let me further explain in an example. Today, I feel miserably ill. My body aches all over & I wonder how much longer I can possibly go on. I slow down, breathe & thank God that He saved me; that I am His child & one day soon, I will be with Him forever in an eternity without any pain or illness. I pray for strength to survive the day & hope so that I can face the future God has already set before me. This gives me joy, not necessarily ecstatic happiness, because I know that I will never have to face a minute of this life without my God by my side.

Friends, this isn't a magic formula or a three-step-program. This is changing our habits & our thought processes. It's hard but if we try to heed Paul's advice in this matter, perhaps we can understand and one day say, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.... I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:11b,13)