From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that he had to go to Jerusalem, and he told them what would happen to him there. He would suffer at the hands of the leaders and the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and he would be raised on the third day.

But Peter took him aside and corrected him. "Heaven forbid, Lord," he said. "This will never happen to you!"

Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's."                

                                                                                                                 Matthew 16: 21-23

 

TRUSTING GOD

Suffering just doesn’t make sense. 

How would we react if someone pulled us aside and said our seven-year-old would suffer and die from cancer?  Our brother would struggle with mental illness, leaving him abandoned and unemployed?  Who would endorse the suffering of a child born with severe handicaps?  Or the collapse of an energetic, young coach? 

 Who wouldn’t react like Peter?

 In the greatest trials of my life, this passage reminds me of who I am and of who God is. 

Like Peter, my reaction to my brother’s sufferings and death was one of fury.  But through this scripture passage, Christ urged me to let my sorrow go.  He suggested that my distorted worldly view concealed God’s greater plan.  He called me to trust in ways I never had to before.

When I finally discarded my desires and accepted the situation, I began to appreciate Christ’s holy presence in my life.  Peace, comfort, and joy replaced fear, anger and resentment.

God doesn’t desire suffering any more than we do.  Sin nailed Christ to the cross, not God.  God delivered the resurrection.

When we trust that God’s view differs from our worldly stance, we receive supernatural strength in disconcerting times.  We live in the light of hope and stand on the rock of our salvation.

 And we will not be disappointed.