On Suffering and Time

The tragic events of the past week painfully remind us that we live in a broken world and that suffering is an all too common recurrence. This is nothing new. From the beginning, the instigator of suffering, the devil, “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He thinks he has us debilitated, robbed of our peace, and right where he wants us. He is mistaken.

In his book Classic Christianity, Bob George tells the story of a man whose six-year-old daughter died in a car crash. Bob was astounded by the man’s peace of mind given all that he’d been through. When he asked how the man held up under such heart-wrenching circumstances, the man replied, “If God had come to us six years ago and told us, ‘I have a little daughter named Wendy. She’s only going to be on earth for six years. But I need someone who will look after her and teach her about Me for those six years, then I’m going to take her home to Me. So, understanding that those are the conditions, would you like Me to give her to you?’ without hesitation I would have shouted, ‘Oh yes, Lord, please give her to us!’”

God blessed this man with an inspired point of view. 2 Corinthians 4:18 echoes this perspective: “So we fix our eyes not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

This grieving father understood that the short time he had with his dear child was not the end of the story, and that the enemy was not to have the last word. Likewise, we can take comfort that even in the midst of the recent trials and tribulations of this fallen world, there will come a day when “(God) will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” (Revelation 21:4).

I hope this encourages you to have an eternal perspective today.