Ever since the fall of man, human beings have found themselves in a predicament where they have lost total control of the things they once had dominion over. Planet Earth is a constant reminder that things are no longer the same. God is fully aware that the earth and humanity are no longer perfect as He created them to be, but He chooses not to look back but to look forward, a lesson from which we all can learn.
Through His unfailing love and mercy, God decided that no matter how deteriorating and disgusting the earth and its inhabitants had become, He would birth the greatest miracle humanity has ever experienced. Jesus, the Messiah was born. So, God used a corrupted means to bring about the purest and holiest Vessel. Therefore, the Son of God came and lived among broken people in a fallen world.
Jesus walked this earth as a human being and faced, hardships, challenges, adversities, and even death; things we all have gone through and will eventually go through. Jesus’ sufferings cannot be compared to what we consider to be our worst days in life. Yet, He took a different approach and had a different mentality toward life’s challenges. He didn’t see them as proof that He was defeated, rejected, or cast out of God’s presence. Jesus didn’t go through all the suffering that He went through because He sinned or deserved it; He did it to save humanity. And as painful and unpleasant as His mission was, God’s presence was with Him throughout the whole journey. This means that just because we face hardships in life or a bumpy journey, doesn’t mean God’s heart toward us has changed. And we don’t go through hardships in life because of the absence of God’s presence. For example, when God says He is with us or will be with us wherever we go, He’s not saying that challenges or persecutions won’t come. However, He promises to be a present help in times of trouble.
What I find fascinating is that opposition, trouble, and persecution do not phase God in any way, shape, or form just like the decaying world couldn’t prevent the Messiah from walking this earth. God will use everything to bring about His purpose. Also, God can use anything to train His children and allow all things to work together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). And this is where we, as children of God, should not lean on our own understanding, but to trust and ask Him to help us discern the work of the Spirit.
For example, when someone goes to a trainer at the gym and experiences muscle pain after the workout, that person is not upset with the trainer and everybody else at the gym because he knows that the pain is not meant to kill him but to help him get to his desired goal. This should be our mentality when God allows us to go through tough seasons because they are always purposeful.
On the other hand, some of us have had the wrong perspectives concerning these things. We think that hardships and persecutions are signs that indicate that the person whose life is topsy-turvy has done something wrong when it’s not often the case. In the Bible, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:2-3).
Even for Jesus, the disciples couldn’t believe that the Messiah would suffer until death. Also, people couldn’t see Job as a servant of the Lord in his suffering. And when Paul got bitten by a poisonous snake, the people on the island of Malta automatically assumed that he was a murderer.
I think this is a mentality that people must avoid because criticizing others, judging and even drawing our own conclusions based on what they have gone through or are going through, will lead them into some serious trouble with God, which is something that no one wants to face. We may think that God’s presence is not with this particular person or God cannot use such a person when that individual can be in good standing with Him. This person might be going through a training season, and God is using his circumstances to prune him.
We should have compassion and mercy toward others because the tables do turn. Today might be somebody else’s season of hardships but tomorrow may be ours. How we approach and consider someone else in their season of pain will determine the level of mercy we will get when the tables are turned.
SCRIPTURES
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their fathers? If you are not disciplined, and everyone undergoes discipline, then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” Hebrews 12:7-8
“Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7
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