DON'T REMOVE THE SUFFERING...THE BLESSING MAY GO WITH IT (1 OF 17)
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
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Don't Remove the Suffering...the Blessing May Go With It (1 of 17)
Series: 2 Corinthians
Robert Dawson
2 Corinthians 1.1-11
John Ortberg, in an article for Leadership Journal, poses an interesting scenario. He invites us to imagine we are handed a script of your newborn child's life and are given 10 minutes to edit whatever you wanted. You had the power to erase whatever you wanted to erase, what would you do? He then lists a number of things you might find in the list, none of them good, such as learning disabilities that makes childhood and school more difficult for them than most other children, losing a their best friend to cancer as a teenager, losing a job and a marriage as well as sustaining a life-altering injury.
You've got 10 minutes to change their lives, what would you do? What would you change? Without thinking and out of instinct, most of us would remove all the hurt, struggles and suffering from their life that we possibly could. We would delete every major failure and devastating choice.
That's what we would want to do, but would it be a good idea? Would it allow them to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that we need adversity, suffering, failure and difficult relationships to become the best and fullest version of ourselves, to be the strongest version of ourselves?
While we may not want to admit it, I think we all know the answer. As unpleasant as all those things are, they are necessary. That's why God doesn't remove them or withhold them from our lives. Instead, God strategically inserts them into our lives. You see, God's not concerned about creating the perfect life for us but shaping us into the person He wants us to be.
We find that to be true in the lives of our greatest Bible heroes as well. Research the lives of those God called and used. What you find might surprise you. It may discourage you. I cannot think of one person God that God used greatly who did not face great adversity or know the st ...
Series: 2 Corinthians
Robert Dawson
2 Corinthians 1.1-11
John Ortberg, in an article for Leadership Journal, poses an interesting scenario. He invites us to imagine we are handed a script of your newborn child's life and are given 10 minutes to edit whatever you wanted. You had the power to erase whatever you wanted to erase, what would you do? He then lists a number of things you might find in the list, none of them good, such as learning disabilities that makes childhood and school more difficult for them than most other children, losing a their best friend to cancer as a teenager, losing a job and a marriage as well as sustaining a life-altering injury.
You've got 10 minutes to change their lives, what would you do? What would you change? Without thinking and out of instinct, most of us would remove all the hurt, struggles and suffering from their life that we possibly could. We would delete every major failure and devastating choice.
That's what we would want to do, but would it be a good idea? Would it allow them to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that we need adversity, suffering, failure and difficult relationships to become the best and fullest version of ourselves, to be the strongest version of ourselves?
While we may not want to admit it, I think we all know the answer. As unpleasant as all those things are, they are necessary. That's why God doesn't remove them or withhold them from our lives. Instead, God strategically inserts them into our lives. You see, God's not concerned about creating the perfect life for us but shaping us into the person He wants us to be.
We find that to be true in the lives of our greatest Bible heroes as well. Research the lives of those God called and used. What you find might surprise you. It may discourage you. I cannot think of one person God that God used greatly who did not face great adversity or know the st ...
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