The
Listen,
I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a
flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been
swallowed up in victory.”
“Where,
O death, is your victory? Where, O death,
is your sting?”
The
sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
We
may have at one point railed against God for allowing pain and suffering. How
can we possibly rationalize all the bad things that happen to people. Look for someone whose pain exceeds your own. Do you
find that in challenging times your faith is reinforced or is doubt sowed?
Come
to know God. He will give you joy and love and happiness and goodness. No
matter the width and depth of our suffering He is there for us.
Where
is God when it hurts? He has been there. He is the one who gave His only Son,
to be our Savior. He transforms pain, using it to teach and strengthen us if we
allow it to turn us toward Him.
He
has hurt and bled and cried and suffered. He has dignified for all time those
who suffer, by sharing their pain. But one day He will gather the armies of
heaven and will unleash them against the enemies of God.
Pain will either turn us against God or draw us to Him.
Our Daily Bread –