Letters to a friend. . .

My life is filled with interesting men and women, and thankfully, these individuals always make me think and point me back to Him. Thought I might share a little of our latest conversation.

Thoughts on why God allows suffering. . .
Disclaimer: I don't believe that God allows suffering simply to draw people near to Him. I believe the Lord feels our pain more deeply than we can imagine. The creator of life would never find this a justifiable means to an end. I believe this is our rational to make sense of a God we don't understand. However, I do believe that suffering is one of the only experiences that radically reshape us into beings that long for Christ and can only exist because of Him. The only ways we discover how radically different His ways are from ours is through the vessel of suffering. (I know we've talked about this) Suffering, it seems is one of the only experiences that kicks us out of our docile reality and into a limbo like state in which we see our world and all the cracks in it. As God draws near to us in suffering we realize how foreign He is and how backwards his ways seem to us. It is in this state that we experience the Lord fully and realize how blind we have been. Suffering re-introduces us to God only one that is far bigger, far stronger and far more good and holy and pure than anything we have ever known.

That's just my thoughts on the power and magnitude of suffering. I am with you in that its our broken world that is the compelling factor, but I do believe God is aware and just to all that will happen and uses all things together for good. I rest in that so many times. My faith in him doesn't keep me from suffering but it does bring purpose and hope to it. If nothing else it makes me long for heaven and understand how sweet it will be to be whole and pure for eternity.

I know we've talked about this but I always hated that line "God doesn't give us more than we can handle!" Bullshit! I used to scream if that was true than we wouldn't call it SUFFERING we'd call it- I don't know- Coping. Then Mother Teresa said it best.
"God doesn't give me more than I can handle, I just wish He didn't think I could handle so much."

Leave it to Saint Theresa to sum up His power so succinctly. Obviously the women truly knew Christ in ways I can only hope.