The Hard Choice

I don’t care who you are—suffering will touch you. There is really no such thing as a charmed life. The wealthiest all the way down to the poorest. We all suffer. You might be saying, “Oh, I’d like to suffer the way they have to suffer. At least I’d have a Beemer.” “Or at least I’d suffer in a million dollar house.”

If that’s your type of thinking then you haven’t really been paying attention. If watching hurricanes and tornadoes sweep across the land has taught us anything, it would have to be that the million dollar houses can be ruined and swept away as quickly as the shanties.

Recognize that while you may be thinking of a better way to suffer, there are millions of people who are suffering much worse. Did you know that there are children being born in Africa today, to parents with AIDS. Those children themselves, are born with AIDS, and they will live their entire life and then die an early death and not know one day without suffering.

Think about that. If you have had at least one day in your life free of worry or pain, you’ve got more than they will have in their entire lifetime. But recognize that it is not the suffering, itself, that brings you closer to Jesus.

It is what you choose to do with your suffering. It is how you choose to handle the crisis, the trauma, the
sickness, or the bad news. You can choose to run to Jesus and allow Him to comfort and strengthen you in (and perhaps even deliver you from) your suffering, or you can choose to run away from him and blame Him for your suffering.

One choice will bring you closer to Jesus and give you strength to bear up and persevere through whatever it is you are having to face. The other will cause you to grow bitter and miserable, to the point that others will soon go out of their way to avoid you.

Choose wisely..but choose. Don't let your life go into default.