| Dealing with the bad stuff |
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Sad and painful things will happen to you even though you are now a Christian. Following Jesus is not a magic formula  that makes difficulties disappear. Suffering is part of the way the world works – that’s just a fact. But a Christian knows something that others do not – when bad things happen you do not have to go through those troubles alone. You are in the company of the God who loves you deeply and endlessly. Three thousand years ago a collection of songs was gathered, all written with unsettling honesty by God’s people. It is now part of our Bible. They reveal that there has never been a moment when people have not wrestled with God to try to understand why bad things happen even though he loves humankind. Some of them show the song-writer coming near to despair. But not this one: Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak... But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me... Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. From Psalm 31 On occasions when bad things happen, here are some things that can help followers of Jesus: Firstly, you don’t have to pretend it isn’t happening. It is! And you are quite right to be distraught about how awful it is. Jesus too hit rock bottom, weeping when a friend died and terrified when he was facing death. Tell other Christian people what is happening, and they will support you. Secondly, you are not going through this by yourself. God knows what is going on. He is extremely close to you, so you have his strength to call on in order to survive this. These are the moments when your Christian faith counts. Thirdly, don’t hold back if you need to get help. If you need assistance from a doctor or a counsellor, get it. Don’t try to work your way out of trouble with alcohol, gambling or superstitious nonsense – that’s what people who don’t have a Christian faith try, and it only leads to more trouble. But God will help you through medication or relationship counselling or a financial adviser as well as through prayer. And finally, take advantage of everything that the Christian faith can offer. Pray about it, ask the Christian community for their help, and (like the writer of the psalm) never give up your hope that God will help. You are not at the end of the story. You are in the middle of it. The end will be different. The story ends with you meeting God face to face in a context of justice restored and peace assured. Keep that in mind! Now A Christian is a free email course for new Christians. Sign up to get an email like this every day for five weeks. You can also share your own thoughts and read about the experiences of others. www.nowachristian.org |
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