Pastor's Corner 03 Sep 2006 08:33 am
Tears in Heaven
I was listening to Eric Clapton during my travels this morning. He was performing Tears in Heaven when it hit me: I am not the only person suffering right now. I have always known this, of course. But when you are in the midst of pain, it’s easy to become so overwhelmed by it that you forget that you are not alone in your sadness. I thought about many of the people I’ve known or heard about. I considered their pain. I realized that mine is really not as bad as it could be. But before you go thinking that I’m really noble or selfless or something, I should say that rationalizing the “insignificance” of what I’m going through did not make it any easier per se.
So when I got home, I decided to search through the scriptures to read about sadness. The Bible is full of sadness—death, loss of spouses and children, crushed dreams, and not to mention the near constant suffering Jesus endured. So, I suppose, this pain of mine puts me in good company. Or if not good company, at least lots of company.
And then I came across this: a devotion about suffering and leadership. It was in Genesis, the part where Joseph is sold into slavery by his wonderfully loyal brothers. The situation was sad, and no doubt really scary. But God used Joseph’s suffering to set him apart in leadership. And the devotion pointed out that leading often involves suffering of various sorts. Now Joseph’s suffering was not brought on by any actions of his own; mine is. But whether one is in pain from the bad decisions they have made, or the decisions of others, probably matters very little. The point is, God can use suffering to build character, empathy, and humility. Jesus experienced it, so it really follows that his disciples will too. A leader in the church community should strive to be like Christ, and that doesn’t mean that he or she will live happily ever after. Instead, it means that they will live a life of service, sacrifice, and oftentimes, pain.
The devotion concluded with this—“Accept your problems today as opportunities for growth”. The point is not to suffer in vain. Instead, pain and suffering should bring us closer to what is real. The world around us is full of pain—if we are willing to “be” in our pain and problems, then God can help us to come nearer to one another. He certainly did that for us.
on 04 Sep 2006 at 5:00 pm 1.Amanda said …
April, this beautiful blog entry encourages me that God is truly breaking through your dark and heavy sufferings. It is true that Christ is hoping to grow us through our sufferings into the most that He has created us to be. But I think it can also be the hardest thing to realize and accept while in the midst of suffering. And I am so gladdened that you have heard God’s whisperings through the pain.
Consider Paul’s sufferings that he talks about in the end of 2 Cor. 11 and into 12. It seems he has suffered more than any of us can imagine, and when he asks God to take away this thorn in his side, the Lord replies: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” The more Paul suffers, the more he recognizes his weaknesses and thus turns to rely on God. In brokeness we are made humble and beautiful. God shows up in power through these.
April, may you boast in your weaknesses as Paul did b/c I already see the beauty and power of God showing through you!