SUFFERINGS... Sunday

Devotional for 6/14/15

Seems I have this propensity to have difficulties with medical procedures.  Sometimes it has appeared to be just bad luck, like a tooth that didn't want to hold on to a crown (three times in three days!), and in the recent past the same said tooth didn't want a root canal so broke two drill bits that are left in the roots in the process!  Other times though it has been things like anesthesiologists who lack empathy and have no tact, or nursing staff who ignore my repeated reports of my allergy to adhesives including tapes and cardiac electrodes.  And then there are the pharmacy woes both in a hospital and with mail order prescriptions.  Or the improper use of a therapeutic technique by a narcissistic professional who can't see that she was doing anything wrong.

My first instinct is to blame myself.  Because I am in a health profession, perhaps I know just enough to be dangerous and get me into trouble. Possibly I have too high of an expectation for others in the health field.  Or maybe I just didn't speak up enough before these things took place,  Or maybe I'm just a marked woman or there is some kind of bad vibes I put out.  But then I am brought back to reality by those around me, some of whom get more upset by what has happened to me than I do, and most of whom encourage me to file complaints. 

Then I wonder, why is God allowing me to go through these troubles over and over?  And is filing a complaint the appropriate response?  First of all, I am reminded of what Jesus said:

John 16:33 (NIV) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

Even though we may not understand "Why?" while we are here on earth, we can rest assured He will use our trials for good in some way, even if we never fully know or see how until we join him in heaven.  

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV) "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

Romans 8:28 (NIV) "And we know that in all things God works of the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

And it is always helpful to know that not only does God fully understand our struggles, Jesus experienced them here on earth, worse than anything we have ever experienced, including mocking and torture and finally death on a cross.  If God can use that most devastating suffering and death of Jesus to bring about the world's most amazing life-giving act of resurrection providing salvation, then He can certainly create something good out of my little difficulties.  So if I approach my response lovingly, for the good of others and without malice, as Jesus did, then it will be an appropriate response.  I can never do this perfectly, but I can ask for God's help, and thankfully He will forgive me where I fail.

Dear Lord Jesus in heaven, thank you for your gift of forgiveness and eternal life with you in heaven.  Please be with us here on earth as we go through difficult situations and painful troubles.  Help us to be patient in times of trial and to rely on you to bring good things out of them.  Show us the way you want us to respond so that the outcome and our witness brings you glory.  In your name we pray, Amen.

written by Jan Andersen

This song is unusual with a very odd introduction into it.

However it was picked because it neatly illustrates the point 

 of Jan Andersen's topic in this devotional. and one of her quoted scriptures
2 Corinthians 13:12

Corinne Mustafa,
Administrator