From the time that both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered into this world. We are privy to pain and suffering because of the curse that fell upon all humanity. Life is pain, regardless of who we are and what we have. To be without pain and suffering is to also be without God. There is a saying that if everything is going right in your life, you need to be fearful. The enemy doesn’t mess with those that are in his possession. It is believed that to be of this world; you are of the enemy.
The meaning “to be of this world” is the actualization that you abide more with the land laws than you do of God. For instance, today, it is more acceptable for people to be in open relationships, friends with benefits, doing “married” things without actually being married. We have accommodated our standards to fit in with what society says is okay to do. Yet, the minute things don’t go our way, we ask the questions: “If God loves us, then why does He allow for bad things to happen?” or “If God was so powerful, then why am I still stuck in this situation?”
I know this to be true, God is powerful, and He can do what he wants instantly. However, God is also more concerned with our choice than His ability to bless. Have you ever considered the notion that God could force us to serve Him? At times, I ponder that idea because it could be as easy as 1,2,3 for God to say, “you have to serve me.” Yet, he allows us to choose because He loves us. That love must be reciprocated back. Did you know that love isn’t just an action, but it is purposeful? How? For starters, we live in a world that will fail us no matter what. We experience some form of disappointment on a day to day basis. Better yet, we make mistakes, and we fail because we are human. If love is only reciprocated or received based on positive and happy times, then we wouldn’t know love at all. You have to be in a place where you purposefully express or show love because God does it for us. Your relationship with God is the same as it is in a marriage. Marriage vows clearly state:
For better, for worse
For richer, for poorer
For sickness, and in health
We are flawed individuals that experience hurt but also hurt others. We have to get out of the mindset that our lives are supposed to be perfect because we are Christ’s followers. If anything, you should be grateful that your life is preserved, and you don’t look like what you have been through. God will sustain us through every trial, but He will not stop chastising us because it’s painful or because it doesn’t make sense. For the word of God says:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5)
“For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:10-11)
God is not a being that will force us to go through turbulent times without experiencing them Himself. If God cared more about His reputation and His status in this world, then He would have sent His Son as a King: Crowned and evident to the world. Instead, ” He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). Jesus was the very thing that we look down to. He was the person we would despise and mock because He didn’t fit in with everything else.
Jesus was as much of an outsider as some of us. He knows what it means to be rejected, ridiculed, hated, abused, and alone. Yet, through all the pain this world caused Him, He still chose to die on the Cross for us. He was never sent to save those who thought they knew everything and was accepted as pillars of this life. He came for those whose light was dimmed from the moment they entered this world. He chose to be a savior to all those that are misplaced.
As faithful followers of Christ, we are misfits to this world. Our true selves will never be accepted here on earth. But if we push towards the mark, we will make it to the Cross. Our Heavenly Father will greet us and reprimand us on a job well done. He will be pleased that we chose discomfort, pain, and isolation for His name’s sake. When we walk through those pearly gates of Heaven, there will be no more pain or sorrow: only joy. Our lives do matter, but you have to decide what you want it to matter to. You will either matter to:
1. A world that will be scorched and non-existent
OR
2. To a God that has overcome this world and is everlasting.
There is peace and joy while we still exist on this earth, but it is only evident when we rest in Jesus. “He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge” (Psalm 91:3-4). You should know that You serve a purpose that is greater than this world. You are loved! You are cherished! and You matter!
