How long???
When you get into your 40's, as I am, it is inevitable that death will start rearing it's ugly head around you. And also inevitably, the question is asked, why does a mrciful God allow suffering? People have lost their faith, and even turned away from God over this very thing. Part of the problem is that we have no real perspective of eternity. Picture in your mind the flash of a camera. Now consider this. The "world", that is Satan, does not want us to think about eternity. Look around you for the proof. Drugs to make you feel younger. Surgery to make you look younger. The message that you need a big, fancy home, with fancy cars, boats, plasma TV's, Jacuzzi's, vacations in the tropics, and so on, and so on it goes. We live for the now, with our treasure here on this earth. I remember as a teen, when church group[s would show up at our door. They would talk about salvation, being born again, and they would always say; "Don't you care where you are going to spend eternity?" At that time in my life, all I cared about was the next party, the next chance to hang with my friends. I certainly didn't care about eternity. It was not on my mind at all, just as it is not on the mind of most of those in our society. But we need to think about it, to really understand this thing called eternity. Think about that flash of the camera. What do you think it represents? Most people will guess that it represents their life. After all, isn't our life just a flash on the face of time? But no, that is not what the flash represents. It represents not our life, but the life, from birth, to final gasp, of our entire universe. Now, I know there are some who will insist that the universe, and our world, are only a few thousand years old, and while I am not one of those, this analogy will still work. But consider, the life of our planet is only a small fraction of the age of the universe. And the whole span of mankind is only a fraction of that. And our lives, are just a teeny, tiny little fraction of that. Our lives are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a teeny little flash. Now picture sitting for 2 or 3 days, seeing that camera flash, and sitting for another 2 or 3 days. And eternity is way, way longer than that. Now is where it gets good. Have you ever pricked your finger accidently? It hurts for a minute, and then it's gone. Think back, can you remember what it felt like? God has made us so that we do not remember pain. We remember it happening, we remember that it wasn't good, but we don't remember the actual pain. When we suffer, even if it for a lifetime, when you view it from an eternal perspective, that suffering is nothing but a pin prick. As to the why's of suffering, I believe that God is constantly teaching us lessons in faith, love, compassion, and many other areas. Sometimes those who suffer are there to teach the rest of us. But that's another post. I will leave you with this: God did make us to remember love and joy. So, when we go to join Him in Eternity, we will leave behind pain and sadness, and take with us the memories of love, peace and joy. Is that great or what? I apologize for the lenght of this post, and the fact that I have not expounded on some of the points. This was originally prepared to give as a message, and I think some of it get's lost trying to write it, and do so it doesn't take an "eternity" to read. (I just made a joke! LOL) May God bless all of you today, and every day! Ken
posted by the voice @ 7:47 AM
5 Comments:
Oh Ken,
You are so on it. satan will use any device to keep us from seeing the truth. When all we think about is the hear and now, the immediate gratification, what we will be doing while going from a to b, we miss the entire point. God never promised us an easy life, he only promised that He would be there when the going gets tough, which it will do.
Take Jesus as an example. He should have had it easy as God's son, but he had no place to lay his head, people were plotting to kill him, and he was murdered in the worst possible way for no reason at all. And he counted it a joy to obey the will of his Father.
But one thing to remember is that in those times of hardships, suffering and fear, that is where God is refining us. That is when we realize what we are made of, who we are and whose we are.
Like a diamond, we cannot be made perfect and valuable without lots of intense pressure, heat and time. Even when we are changed, it takes precision cuts to rid us of the unnecessary pieces. But through all of that process, we will be left perfect and beautiful in the eyes of the Master.
And you know, a diamond lasts forever.
Thanks for making me think about my eternity.
I love that we can remember the exact moment of something painful, but not relive the pain itself. That is mercy in the works.
I love that we can remember the exactly moment of something so WONDERFUL and we CAN relive the wonder of it again and again.
God is truly a giving, loving God.
And a good joke it was! I had heard the analogy about the camera flash before but the part about the pin prick and how that relates to suffering is GREAT. I had never thought of it that way before! Very cool...
Keep up the good work. thnx!
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