God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
I’m writing this on my phone in a hotel room. Someone I love and care about has been suffering for awhile now and I’m trying to do a few relatively small things to help.
This person’s suffering reminds me of how, up until recently, I looked at life like a rollercoaster. The blessings were the high times and the suffering the low times.
But I heard something the other day that reminded me that’s not the way life works:
Life is like a dirt road. The kind that has two tire tracks with some grass in-between. One tire track is smooth and full of blessings while the other tire track includes rough stretches, obstacles, and deep pot holes that are jarring.
The blessings and the suffering on this dirt road of life run parallel to each other. Very often they’re experienced simultaneously.
And for the Jesus follower, when we give thanks to God for the blessings, and we cry out to God in our suffering, both tire tracks make a road that takes us to where we want to be.
A road that takes us to God.
“Lord have mercy on us. Help us to give thanks to You always and in all circumstances. And be our Shield Lord, and our Helper. Give us strength to suffer well in Your sight.
“In Jesus’ name we ask this of You.
“Amen.”
Notes:
This blog post was inspired by Nicky Gumbel’s excellent devotional: The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Day 4.
I love this concept. In the midst of difficult times it’s sometimes hard trust. Recognizing that there are simultaneous blessings and challenges helps my faith.
Jeremiah 29:11: “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”.
Thank you for the comment, Kar! And thank you for everything you do for God’s Kingdom!!!
We were praying on Wednesday for a brother in Christ who is suffering and we talked about twin track living. Our faith and trust in God alongside the reality of pain and suffering.
Thank you for sharing that Eagle! Did any insights come out of that discussion?
It was a good reminder and encouraging to us that whilst our faith and trust is in God we still have to live in the reality of our present situations. We don’t deny the circumstances because that would be to deny God.