The Amish Voice 6
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.
The Journey of Life
—
Lynn Miller
Continued—Next Page
