The Invitation of Tribulation

I overheard my 4 year old and my 7 year old daughters talking to one another today:

M: “How are we going to make these bees go away?!”

O: “The Lord will make them go away when He is ready.”

My kids have been stung a lot this year. We’ve sprayed hives and knocked down their homes, but the yard still buzzes ominously. It amazes me to hear the joyful contentment in my daughter’s voice. She sees the affliction, and certainly it is an annoyance, but she has no fear and is not overwhelmed. This trouble is out of her control and in the hand of the One She Cannot See. Yes, it’s just bees, but she is only a child. How encouraged is my heart when I see God’s grace being poured out upon my children. Out of their mouths come truths we have neither explained, nor been particularly good at demonstrating.

God gives us annoyances, trials and heartbreak. Skinned knees, depression and death. Unfathomable mistakes, illnesses and injustice. Income losses. Lack of resources. Even hardened hearts. All of these He GIVES to us.

“We bring nothing at birth, we take nothing with us at death.

The Lord alone gives and takes.

Praise the name of the Lord!” -Job 1:21

I didn’t used to believe it. If God really loves us, how could He allow bad stuff to happen to us? As I child, when I suffered the consequences of injustice, I was furious. When someone I loved, with her husband and newborn daughter, became victims of vehicular manslaughter, I wept deeply in anger and frustration. When my body ached from starvation, and my hair fell out and the smell of my children and husband (who I love greatly and missed seeing) made me wretch, I felt cursed.  But then, God softened my heart and opened my eyes to the beautiful truth:

“So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”  −2 Corinthians 4:16-18

The man who wrote that knew affliction and betrayal. He was well acquainted with devastating loss and unbearable pain. But he understood that God gives us these sorts of troubles out of love.  Sometimes our trials are disciplinary, but other times we have done nothing wrong to bring these horrible frustrations upon ourselves (read the story of Job for an amazing example).  When the latter happens, I’ve heard them referred to as “hard providences”. Calling them such implies a sort of spirituality. An unseen force at work. This is appropriate, because there always is.

Whatever the cause or magnitude, our afflictions never cease to invite an opportunity for us to obtain truth, grace and love.  Every hardship offers a chance to rely on our God, our Maker, our Father and He never misses an opportunity to remind us of His love.  If we are fortunate enough to be given eyes to see and a heart that understands, we can allow these situations to strengthen and encourage us.  “Bad things”  don’t have to overwhelm, consume and define us.  We can rest in the overwhelming love of Christ and define hardship itself! We can become more like the person we are intended to be. The person that we will be when this life, this pre-show, concludes and the real show, The Glory, begins.

The concept my daughter referenced is often buried beneath mountains of misconceptions. Misconceptions of experience and misconceptions about God.  She, being only 7, is unfettered by experience and doubt. She is blessed to grasp the fundamental truth: All of our hardships, be they abstract or concrete – they all bring about the opportunity to become more content, more fulfilled and more joyful. Every hardship is an invitation to become more you. The you God had in mind when He formed you in your mother’s womb. When I look back at the last three decades and see the hardships I was overcome by, I wish I would have seen what was really going on. I wish I would have understood the truth. If I had, perhaps the sting of tribulation wouldn’t have hurt quite so much. On the other hand, if the truth had come naturally to me, would I be glorifying God right now for blessing my children with it so soon?