Journey of Life

By Norma Miller

October 31, 2013

Life is like a journey where we learn a lot of lessons to prepare us for the life to come. These lessons come as experiences and tests along the way. God says that if we are faithful over a few things, He will make us ruler over many things.

God gives us many tests throughout our lives. As we pass little tests, God gives us others. If we fail tests, we get to redo them before we move on. God is carefully watching, because He loves His own children. He wants to promote us, give us good things, and see us prosper.

For most of my life, when these tests came along, I would fight them with everything I had. I hate pain and suffering. I thought God was mean to allow such horrible, unthinkable things to happen to people-things like cancer, which causes people to suffer slow, painful deaths and takes them from their families. Things like broken hearts because one's love is not returned. Things like the killing of innocent children before they have a chance to live their lives, or even before they are born. I mean, He WAS GOD, right? He could have "trumped" this, right? He could have prevented it somehow. The hurtful things people say and do to each other, or simply the things we are required to give up, or the longings that are never satisfied in this life-why did He allow these things to happen? So I fought. I begged God to stop the tests. I tried to change my circumstances, tried to do everything I could to escape the pain of the situation I was in.

Then God began to change me through these things. He began to show me that He could heal me of every hurt, every sickness, every wound, and every disease, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. He began to show me that He was using these things to change me and make me more and more like Himself. Slowly, I began to almost look forward to the next test. I certainly don't enjoy them, but now I look for what He is trying to show me about Himself and about myself. Now I am trying to embrace the journey and embrace what He wants to do in and through me.

He is beginning to show me something else more fully. It is something I have always known in my head, but my heart did not comprehend it. We've always been taught that God is love, but somehow this message is not taught in a way that we can experience. God created families so that children grow up knowing they are loved and accepted. But often, it seems, parents forget how much children need reassurance and unwavering, unconditional acceptance so they can feel their love. We tend to have goals and dreams and desires for our children, and when our children develop problems (especially if we see our own issues in our children), we try to get them to perform rather than show our love for them in spite of their problems.

Don't we all, even as adults, wish people could see us for who we are, rather than for what we do? We all need someone to love us through our hard times. Why wouldn't children need that even more?

Since we are human and since we had human parents, we are well aware of how impossible it is for us to get it right as parents all the time. We are also aware that very few people really have the experience of being continually surrounded with unconditional love. As a result, most of us have a hard time believing God has a perfect, unconditional love for us. We cannot even begin to comprehend that kind of love because our brains and hearts know only earthly, human love. We automatically draw limits for God in our minds, and because we are told that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, we think He should be able to control all of this.

Another thing we can't comprehend: God has no need to control. His Word says that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. His heart breaks over our hurts. But God created people with a will of their own. He wants us to choose Him of our own accord. He knows that forced worship is not worship at all. He wants our true worship and devotion. If it is from our hearts, it will be spontaneous. He will not force anyone to choose the right way. As long as there is life and as long as there are humans, and as long as there is a devil, bad things will happen. Satan is out to steal, kill, and destroy.

Imagine this: God creates a new human being and declares, "This one is anointed to carry the Father's love to others." So Satan says, "How can I stop this one from doing what the Father wants? Oh yes! If he doesn't have a father, he won't experience his father's love, so he won't want to receive the Father's love either!" Or this: God creates a new human being and declares, "This one is anointed to carry My glory." So Satan says, "Ha! If she is conceived out of wedlock and doesn't have her true father in her life, she won't grow up being affirmed by her daddy. He won't tell her she is beautiful, and she will always feel shame. She won't bloom under her daddy's love, and she will not be able to carry God's glory!"

Why does God allow this? Because He wants us to fight, to pursue, to choose Him! When we do, He begins the healing process. When we begin to experience that healing in our deepest wounds, we begin to share His love and His glory with others! If I hadn't gone through hell on earth, I could not share with you like this. You see, the journey becomes sweeter, more beautiful BECAUSE of the pain. With every battle through fire, another layer is burned off, and we see things more clearly, and the future looks brighter. We have so MUCH to look forward to with Him. He is such a loving God. He loves us enough to NOT stop every pain and trial we go through. He knows that when we come through it, we will be better because of it. He is not causing everything to happen. In fact, if He can't use it for good, He won't allow it.Aren't you glad we can't see all the things He doesn't allow?! You see, our enemy wants to do everything he can to keep us from God's plan. His ultimate goal is to hurt God. Satan doesn't care about us. He wants to get back at God!

So, I bless you in your journey to God, to freedom, healing, and wholeness. Surrender to His divine process, and fight through the tests, not against them. They will change you from glory to glory, ever more and more like His own image, until that blessed day, when we see Him face to face. Then we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!