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“When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion we were like men who dreamed.” (Psalm 126)

God did the impossible. He returned the captives to Zion. They were so astounded they thought they must be dreaming. Imagine the wrenching parting that they had experienced and then the joy of returning home.

I’ve been considering the story of Ruth and Naomi. A story some of us can clearly relate to; women who suffered gaping losses. The story begins with a famine and goes downhill from there. Wasn’t God supposed to bless his people? Naomi’s kin belonged to Joseph’s line after all, yet Naomi experienced one tragic disappointment after another.

Recently I had the opportunity of being reunited with an old friend who I haven’t seen for many years. She confided that her life had not turned out the way she had dreamed even though she has faithfully served God for many years.

Naomi’s life appeared shipwrecked—washed up on the rocks in tatters. All hope lost. Naomi has no expectations that the tide of life would change now as we see in her own words. “Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons would you wait until they grew up,” Naomi asked her daughters-in-law.

We catch a glimpse of her raw heartache when she returns home. “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them, her grey head bent in sorrow. “Call me Mara because the Lord Almighty has made my life very bitter.”

Do you hear her brokenness? After all, Naomi wasn’t complaining or questioning God about a bump in the road, but a life pattern of disappointments, and sadness. They had woven themselves into the very core of her being. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Are you burdened by so many heartaches that you wonder where God is?

Unknown to Naomi God wasn’t finished with her. I’m sure if Naomi had been given a million years to sit and think of a solution to her life’s troubles she would have never come up with a plan like the one God had in mind. God still had an astounding seal of confirmation of His eternal love and mercy to place upon her life.

Naomi’s own grandson would become the grandfather of King David and his royal line would usher in the saviour of the world.

Ruth 4:16 “Then Naomi took the child, laid him on her lap and cared for him. The women living there said Naomi has a son.”

I can see Naomi holding that small babe on her frail lap, as all the heartache drains from her old bones and is replaced with inexpressible joy. Nothing is too difficult for God to mend, to heal or restore.

God is still writing your story today and even if it hasn’t turned out the way you’d hoped thus far, he isn’t finished yet.

“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Thank you God for the plans that you have for me, thank you that they far exceed anything that I could imagine for my life. When I feel discouraged and my heart if heavy with circumstances that I cannot endure, remind me that you are working all things together for good. Amen.

Question – How can Naomi’s story and the story of the returned captives to Zion relate to your own disappointments that you’ve faced in the past?

It was sixth hour. The dreaded hour. Eighth grade gym class was upon me, and it was dodge ball day. The teacher picked the captains and off they went. “Jimmy.” “Tracy.” “I’ll take Josh.” And on it went until there were two kids left. “Ok, I guess I’ll take Will.” The teacher motioned me to step over to other team as their last resort.

Being picked last didn’t come as a surprise. After all, I had been the “fat girl” in my class of twenty-eight since the age of five. I was used to being last. Still, every gym class, I held on to a silent hope that a classmate might see the real “me” and not judge me according to my appearance or lack of athletic capabilities.

These moments of embarrassment do not define us as individuals, unless we allow them to. Sadly, I did. I allowed other people’s perceptions of my outside ugliness to seep and fester inside of me to the point that I believed if I weren’t outwardly pretty like the rest of them, my inner self was full of ugliness, too. This ugliness reared a fifteen year struggle with bulimia, along with a whole host of other emotional and physical sufferings.

You may not be able to directly relate to the suffering of an eating disorder, but you don’t have to. You have your own “fill in the blank” life experience that has bred similar emotions. So, what does our Lord, the one who created us in His image, have to say about our human sufferings?

Surely, his intention was for us to be perfect, yet He knew the temptations would be too great for his first creations to resist. His word, in Romans 5 reads, “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.”

He uses our human sufferings for His greater good. Without experiencing pain, heartache, failure, how would we learn to lean on him in faith, to press on, to develop the character of a Godly woman or man that He so desires us to be? Through my years of dealing with an eating disorder, depression and anxiety, I held fast to these verses in Romans, but with a deluded focus. “Recovery is my hope. Only then will I be happy. Only then will others see the real me,” I foolishly told myself. While recovery has brought relief and restored health in a most amazing way, true lasting happiness can only be rooted in the hope of the Lord. He sees the real you, and he unconditionally loves you.

What kind of suffering is in your life today? Are you persevering or faltering? No matter your struggle, you can be certain the Lord will sustain you and build your character in His sure and unchanging hope. Ask the Lord to reveal his hope to you in the face of your suffering today.

Lord, in the face of suffering, we thank you. We thank you because we know that the trials you have placed in our lives are for your purpose. Continue to strengthen our perseverance, build our character, and hold fast in the hope of the glory of God.
In your name, Amen. 

Question: What kind of suffering is in your life today?

We will always experience suffering during our lives here on our fallen Earth. When we experience pain, especially the death of a loved one, our natural response is to question, to ask why, and perhaps even to doubt God. Because it hurts.

Some people will respond to evil they see by denying that evil exists. But what is perhaps easy to say is quite difficult to live, or as C S Lewis put it: “Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later.” There is a name for the person who denies good and evil: a sociopath. Clearly the proper response to evil is not denial.

Other people will respond to evil by removing God from the equation. But removing God does not make evil less evil, nor pain less painful. In fact, removing God also removes ultimate hope. Without God, our world seems permanently and irredeemably evil. Without God, there is no ultimate relief from pain, only pain.

With God we cry out to a loving Father who remains with us and comforts us as we hurt and Himself came to Earth as a human being to suffer and die for us. But without God we cry out into the empty void of nothingness that neither hears our cry nor cares for our pain. Removing God results in no gain and much loss.

When we have God in our lives and hearts, we have hope during difficult times and comfort in the midst of tragedy. We have hope grounded in the fact of God’s mighty power, His limitless mercy, and everlasting love. No matter what happens, God loves us because God is love. And nothing can separate us from Him.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Question: What do you need to say to God today in prayer? What questions do you have to ask God?

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for May 2nd, AM.
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2011.

“I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world.” John 17:15

It is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all believers in God’s own time: Going home to be with Jesus. In a few more years the Lord’s soldiers, who are now fighting “the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) will be done with conflict, and will enter into the joy of their Lord.

But although Christ prays that His people will eventually be with Him where He is, He does not ask that they may be taken at once away from this world to heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest.” But Christ does not pray like that. He leaves us in His Father’s hands until, like corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into our Master’s presence.

Jesus does not plead for our instant removal by death. Our abiding in the flesh is needed for others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we be kept from evil, but He never asks for us to be admitted to the inheritance in glory until we are of full readiness.

Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, “Because we would be with the Lord.” I fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because they desire to get rid of their troubles. If it were so, they would feel the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Savior’s company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from trouble is a selfish one. (Philippians 1:21-26)

Let your desire be to glorify God by your life here as long as He pleases, even though it is in the midst of toil, conflict, and suffering, leave Him to say when “it is enough.”

Question: How do you pray in times of toil, conflict, and suffering?

Do you want to go back to the basics of your faith? Try our study Knowing Jesus Personally.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Suffering is something we all experience at some point in our lives. We can suffer in many different ways. Our pain can be primarily physical, or we can suffer in mental or emotional ways. Suffering can be temporary, but it may still be very painful. We always feel very relieved when it comes to an end. Then there’s the severe, constant, unending physical suffering that goes on day after day, year after year. There may not be any hope that our circumstances will improve while on this earth. At times like this we might ask, “Does God care that I’m suffering?” “Are all His decisions loving and fair?” “Is God in control?” “Do I trust Him?” If we believe the Bible which says, God is in control of all things, He is loving and wise, perfect and just, then the answer to these questions is a definite “Yes!” We may not understand why we are suffering, but we can trust God, confident in knowing He will work all things out for our good. We may wonder, “Is anything being accomplished by this suffering?” “Why is God allowing it to happen?” There is purpose in suffering. Circumstances in our lives can be consequences of our own sin and the poor choices we make. But, sometimes we suffer when we haven’t done anything wrong. God wants us to use these adversities to refine, mature, complete and perfect us. If we’re wise, we will not waste this opportunity. The Bible says when suffering comes “count it all joy.”

I know that in my suffering, it gives me great joy and hope to know that because my sins are forgiven, not only will I see Jesus in Heaven, but I have Him with me now to comfort, encourage and guide me. Have you ever confessed your sins to God and committed your life to Him? Would you like to know you are forgiven and going to Heaven some day? If so, you can say a prayer like the one below:

Dear Jesus, I know I have sinned. Thank you for dying on the cross to take the punishment for my sins. I ask for your forgiveness, and I surrender my life to you Amen.

Questions: Does God care that you are suffering? Why is God allowing the suffering to happen?

Suffering is something we all experience at some point in our lives. We can suffer in many different ways. Our pain can be primarily physical, or we can suffer in mental or emotional ways.  Suffering can be temporary, but it may still be very painful. We always feel very relieved when it comes to an end. Then there’s the severe, constant, unending physical suffering that goes on day after day, year after year. There may not be any hope that our circumstances will improve while on this earth.

At times like this we might ask, “Does God care that I’m suffering?” “Are all His decisions loving and fair?” “Is God in control?” “Do I trust Him?” If we believe the Bible which says, God is in control of all things, He is loving and wise, perfect and just, then the answer to these questions is a definite “Yes!” We may not understand why we are suffering, but we can trust God, confident in knowing He will work all things out for our good.

We may wonder, “Is anything being accomplished by this suffering?” “Why is God allowing it to happen?” There is purpose in suffering. Circumstances in our lives can be consequences of our own sin and the poor choices we make. But, sometimes we suffer when we haven’t done anything wrong. God wants us to use these adversities to refine, mature, complete and perfect us. If we’re wise, we will not waste this opportunity. The Bible says when suffering comes “count it all joy.”

I know that in my suffering, it gives me great joy and hope to know that because my sins are forgiven, not only will I see Jesus in Heaven, but I have Him with me now to comfort, encourage and guide me. Have you ever confessed your sins to God and committed your life to Him? Would you like to know you are forgiven and going to Heaven some day? If so, you can say a prayer like the one below:

Dear Jesus,
I know I have sinned. Thank you for dying on the cross to take the punishment for my sins. I ask for your forgiveness, and I surrender my life to you Amen.

Question: What can you be sure of, despite the pain of suffering?

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