I clicked and there she was–her wide smile and beautiful four young children–and I couldn’t breathe. I wanted so desperately to close the computer. Close my eyes to this unthinkable suffering. I cannot read this, I kept thinking. I can’t even look into the face of her horror. She writes of peace and gratitude, but I can’t breathe as my own puppy-breath littles skip around me and I sit here warm and in good health, planning for an upcoming sunny vacation.
Oh God. WHAT ON EARTH? This is WRONG. Where is JUSTICE in this? HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU BE GOOD IN THIS??
I know I’m being irrational. People are suffering all over our planet, Mamas dying daily as their babes look on. Littles are left alone, orphaned, abandoned.
If we saw the suffering, as God sees, in its horrific entirety, it would destroy us.
We cannot fathom how great is the Fall.
Yesterday at church, we re-began our journey through the Bible, studying God’s sacred scriptures cover to cover. As we dove into Genesis and saw The Good World, as it was in the beginning, I get the feeling that we can imagine Paradise about as well as a little child raised in some impoverished 3rd world slum can imagine a Hawaiian vacation.
In other words, we can’t imagine how good it was and how horrific this is, how great was The Fall that we took, humankind, when we took that bite of independence.
But stories like Kara’s give us a fresh glimpse into this and I cannot fathom how the Father’s heart must hurt to watch it all. And yet. He does have a different perspective and we must take on that same perspective if we are to have any hope at all.
[bctt tweet=”The ONLY way to not lose heart is to look at the world through His Word.”]
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18
I am coming more and more to believe that everything else boils down to this. A new way to see, over and over, again and again, constantly begging God for fresh grace to see as He sees. Why, God? So many things I don’t understand. I believe Jesus heals. Why haven’t You healed her? So many questions. But this does remain.
We are all wasting away.
And all our “light” (it doesn’t feel light!) “momentary” (it doesn’t feel momentary!) affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. It’s working for us! Somehow. Somehow this, even this is working for Kara, for her husband, for her littles, for the world. I don’t understand it but I put back on His Word and look at this fallen, torn, bleeding world and see again what is unseen:
Hope.
This is the only way to not lose heart.
That nothing’s wasted. Nothing’s meaningless. Everything, everything, worked for the good of those who love Him.
This week, whether your light momentary affliction seems petty or severe, may this rule your mind and anchor you to hope. It is the only way to not lose heart.
{Pray for Kara. Her book, The Hardest Peace, shares her journey. Thanks for reading.}