Psalm 69:1-3,13-18, Romans 5:3-4,Psalm 69:23-26
This weeks message at church presented something to me in a way I've never heard it before. The question the pastor expressed was "Why do bad things happen to good people" or "Why does God allow suffering". Since I have some chronic illnesses that cause pain and suffering to some degree I've had varying degrees of success at answering this question for myself. That's why it was surprising to me to be presented an answer to this question from a new perspective. The pastor encouraged us to be thankful to God for suffering because suffering is like exercise. We exercise to break our body down so it will grow back stronger. Science tells us that exercise creates micro tears in the muscle that then grows back with more muscle tissue. That is why muscles get bigger and stronger. This is what suffering does for us. It hurts and is uncomfortable. It causes strain and effort of will. It wounds us in the moment to allow us to grow and stand stronger. It breaks us down, sloughs off the unnecessary fat in our lives and prepares us for greater spiritual battles. I love that picture so much. I don't want to be a wimpy warrior. I want to be bulked up and fully armed! I want to be Rocky not Joxer. So I'm going to try thinking of any suffering, trials and tests like exercise. Not aimed at me like a weapon to wound me, but a chance to get stronger.
In regards to actual physical exercise...well I'm working on it. I need to step up my game from small hikes and walks. I'm only maintaining right now which isn't bad but I want to lose. I am losing time on the deadline of my goal.
As far as the prayer warrior thing. God brought someone to mind yesterday and then I found out something hard was happening in their lives. So many people are hurting.
Starting work on the new Murder Mystery. This one will be a much smaller cast and a single solution so this should be cake. Pardon me while I laugh at myself mercilessly for making such a ludicrous statement. It is a Sherlock Holmes Murder Mystery and my friend Jen and I (whose idea this was) already have some GREAT ideas. I'm excited.
That is an awesome perspective! Yeah I know we are to try to rejoice in suffering - I mean, the Bible tells us to - but it's such an "inhuman" concept.
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