We all know about life’s storms. That’s why we need a survival guide! Man’s question is an ancient one:
Why is there pain and suffering in our world?
I think the question goes as far back as Cain and Abel. Why them? Well, Adam and Eve knew what things were like before sin and they knew that sin was the cause of all their problems. And that is still true today! All people encounter life’s difficulties of injustice, disease, war and much more. And since the Garden of Eden, Man has blamed God for the problems. Bad stuff really does happen to seemingly good people. So, how do we survive…or dare I say, thrive?
Life’s Storms – A Survival Guide
The problem isn’t just philosophical. It’s personal. We view our trials in a very personal way. The question we raise in our troubles proves our perspective:
Why is this happening to me?
But that’s our limited, human perspective. God has a very different point of view. Therefore, since our goal as Christians is to love Him with all our being and to grow up in our faith, then we must learn to see life’s storms from His perspective!
Man’s perspective and God’s perspective collided in Hezekiah’s life. We see it in II Chronicles 31:20–32:1. Notice:
This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.
There’s a reason fairy tales end with, Happily ever after. Because they are fairy tales – not real life! Hezekiah was faithful in all that he did and he still had to face an invading army. That seems very unfair. Our enemy tempts us to believe that obedience insulates us from problems. But notice that Hezekiah had the same choices we have. There is much we can learn from studying his life.
Soli Deo Gloria!
