Wednesday, January 17, 2007

All Creation Groans

by Donna L. Watkins

I asked the Lord one morning, and certainly many mornings over the years of my life, how people can find joy and peace in this world full of suffering and grief. Anybody with a tiny ounce of compassion is moved to tears at the thought of how much pain there is in the world. The children that die every hour from starvation alone grieves my heart with any passing thought of the matter.

When I ask, I seem to hear, "It is in knowing that My plan is complete and perfect. You do not see the entire plan."

Dying is not the ultimate sorrow for the one departing to heavenly realms and we also know that those left behind with the sorrow of loss can use that loss for great and excellent things, even if it's only to draw nearer our Lord and Savior who was very familiar with suffering.

What we see here on this earth in this spiritual realm of reality .... as they call it these days .... is not the majestic tapestry of life that God has made for mankind. Eternal life begins the day one accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. We can experience His joy and peace in the midst of all things. "For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ." (2 Cor 1:5)

Have you ever done embroidery? What a beautiful scene the front of the fabric shows, but what about the back? All those knots and crossed threads provide no hint at all of what the real picture is. It just looks a mess. We live in the midst of that mess here on this Earth's "tapestry" but we can see beyond with our spiritual eyes to better places and better purpose in all of the evil around us.

God promises us to use ALL for our good if we love Him. Isn't that an awesome thing? To know that no matter how much evil the devil dumps into our lives, we can be assured it will be used for our good, if we but love the Lord. Loving the Lord includes trusting in Him for all things. We know in our hearts that no matter how bad things look in the reality realm, there is a greater tapestry being wrought in the spiritual realm.

We need our Faith eyes to see beyond the evil to the beautiful that comes from suffering. We share in Christ's sufferings here on earth. Our pain shapes who we are for the better or the worse. Paul counted all things loss in order to know Christ and the fellowship of His sufferings. (Phillipians 3:8-11)

Pain shapes who we are. Happiness is but a fleeting emotion, a momentary happening to enjoy. Joy comes from knowing Him, intimately. Knowing that the providential will of God (that which He allows to flow into our life for a good purpose) is shaping us for the real life that is beyond.

Consider Romans 8

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.

24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?

25 But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered.

Keep your perspective amidst the trials of life. Don't let the devil steal your peace and joy that can found in the midst of any storm.

Prayer
Father, give us insight into another realm of this world. We seek to know Christ and who He is and who we shall become through Him. Forgive my weak soul that expects daily pleasure and allow my faith to see into the realm of goodness that you surround me with. Thank you for directing my steps. Help me to daily surrender my will and control to your providential protection. Thank you for being a perfect Papa. Amen.

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© 2000-2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website, TheNatureInUs.com, for more articles and free email subscription. Link URL: http://www.thenatureinus.com

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