Kenneth Chafin, author of Mastering the Old Testament, wrote this:
“One of the most valuable lessons of faith is that no experience, however painful, need be wasted, but that there are lessons to be learned that have the potential of enriching our lives.”
The key here is Faith. Painful experiences come along everyday. You may be experiencing some very painful things right now. What changes the pain is the focus of our faith. Do we submit it to the Lord and seek Him through it or do we enjoy the wallowing and submersion in self pity, complaining, blaming and whinning? Faith in our Savior, Faith in the immutible charactoristics of a loving God, Faith and knowledge that He is a good God, leads us to the undeniable conclusion that there MUST be some good attached to it, for He loves us and gave himself up for us suffering much more than we ever could.
I sat there one day and thought about that. My first reaction was “Yeah but, all the pain I’m experiencing wasn’t brought on by service to the King, but rather service to the slave of sin, me.” I felt like I had no right to seek God and ask for forgiveness. He was going to punish me for what I had been doing. So I’d get a double shot of discipline: one from the legal system, and one from God. I just couldn’t believe that something good could come out of such a terrible situation that I had created. How wrong I was to believe that. But thanks to faithful brothers and sisters who prayed for me, wrote to me, stood with me, pointed me to the cross and believed that the Lord could and would work through it, He proved Himself faithful and made a true miricle out of the muck and mud of my life. I still walked a very difficult road, but He was there every step of the way even carying me at times just like the Footprints poem so clearly depicts.
Our Father changes us as we learn the lessons of Faith and trust Him more.
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