Life has often been compared to a journey. This life is not the end though.  It is a starting point and it is important for us to walk through its path before we reach our final destination.  Sometimes along this journey we are approached by two visitors who want to accompany us. They are very scary and intimidating, dressed in black robes, they wear a veiled hood covering everything but their eyes. Their eyes are hollow, their odor gives off a death like stench. They extend their hands and introduce themselves. Their names are Sorrow and Suffering and they tell us they are sent from God to accompany us on the rest of our journey.  No one wants to travel with them. In fact,  most of us would rather steer clear from the sight of them.  But it’s in those moments that we should take their hands, it’s in those moments that we should trust that God has a purpose for them being our traveling companions.  We don’t see it at first but when we finally reach the mountain top and our journey is done, we will find behind their hooded veils, Sorrow and Suffering’s real identity.  We will discover their names were always Glory and Grace.  This allegory is a picture for us as Christians as we go through tough times and difficulties.  This is beautifully written in a book called “Hinds feet on High Places”.  It’s about a deer, who is accompanied by Sorrow and Suffering throughout her journey to meet God at the high place.  I was recently talking to my sister about this book because earlier in the week, she had sent everyone in our family a podcast taught by our pastor.  The podcast was an amazing and insightful teaching on suffering and our pastor referenced this book throughout. We were both discussing how this encouraged us, that there is hope, even in the hard places of life and how trials can still be God’s blessings.  At the moment we were talking about this, her toddler son, Ryan was coloring with his crayons. Our attention drifted to Ryan as he colored what he thought was his masterpiece. I remember I gave him compliments as he would color a squiggly line. “Oh Ryan , you’re such a Picasso, wow!”  And of course with great pride, he’d grab another crayon just to show me what else he could do.  His mother Rebekah and I just laughed as we watched this cute little boy coloring away as if he was painting the Mona Lisa.  That was a happy memory.  Two days afterward, I found myself with my sister Rebekah again and this time Ryan was with us but instead of him coloring, he was laying still in a hospital bed with no color of life throughout his little body.  The night before, Baby Ryan had an unfortunate accident and was quickly rushed to the children’s hospital.  There he was in between Rebekah and myself, just laying there peacefully with tubes attached to his tiny frame.  All I kept thinking about was of our last conversation about sorrow and suffering and all I could think of was the happy image of Baby Ryan coloring.  I don’t know where life finds you on your journey, whether you are going through good times or bad but I want to encourage you, to remember that God uses all things for our good.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.  He uses it all, the good, the bad and the ugly. Yes, even the hardships, He uses it to bless us.  John 16:33  says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus doesn’t promise us a life without sorrow but He does promise us His peace and He reminds us that He is with us.  There are numerous examples in the Bible of men and women of faith who had to endure suffering, pain and loss.  From Job, Ruth, Hagar, King David, to the apostle Paul.  In each case although they had to go through it, God was near to comfort and provide.  The scripture says, Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.  We have the promise of God that we will be comforted. For remember God understands suffering. He came to us and left the comforts of heaven to take on the role of the suffering servant. Jesus Christ endured the cross so that we could have the gift of eternal life. His dying on the cross now gives us who believe in Him,  comfort and hope that one day, He will wipe away every tear and there will be no more pain, no more death.  Remember,  if you are trusting in Christ and not in your own goodness, you will never perish but live forever.  The trials you are going through are temporary, life and peace with Christ is eternal.  Before I left the hospital room, I gave my sister one more hug and I whispered in her ear these words. I hope you will find comfort in them. Remember them always and never forget, Sorrow and Suffering are Glory and Grace. The names of Sorrow and Suffering are Glory and Grace. And as you go along your journey and you see the two dark hooded travelers coming your way, don’t run from them,  allow them to join you. They will lead you to God.  And when the sun is about to set, and darkness is about to settle in, just take a moment to look up at the glorious sky.  Pause to admire the dashing display of color that a sunset provides and find hope in this. That every time you see a painting in the sky, just remember, it’s just Baby Ryan. He’s okay, he’s alive and happy. He’s just sitting on God’s lap, helping God pick out His crayons so that He can color another masterpiece on the canvas of Heaven’s skies.

As a child growing up, I loved watching all the Star Wars movies.  Even now as an adult, I’ve seen all nine sequels and it has been fun to share in the joy of watching them along with my own children.  I was just recently watching a documentary on the making of the first Star War’s movie.  What I found interesting, was that from the actors, to the special effects people, to even the studio heads, and the investors, pretty much everyone involved in the project, were starting to get worried.  The numerous special effects scenes were beginning to get costly, there were technical issues with the costumes and sets, and weather delays were causing the film to take longer than expected.  It got to the point, where people started to doubt whether this young and upcoming director George Lucas was capable of pulling this off.  There were times when some of the cast and crew members thought the movie was going to be a comedy.  They would laugh to themselves as they would watch the scenes with the actor playing Darth Vader delivering his lines with a Scottish sounding accent.  However, despite the difficulties and the critics, George Lucas stuck to his vision and his perseverance paid off.  The finished product came out in the summer of 1977 and Star Wars became an instant pop culture phenomenon.  Many involved in the project finally saw what George Lucas saw in his head and knew all along.  Even Darth Vader was no laughing matter and no longer sounded Scottish.  Lucas had the actor James Earl Jones dub the voice of Darth Vader, creating one of the most sinister and iconic villains in cinematic history.  Even the investors and the studio executives could breathe a sigh of relief as the money kept coming in and their stocks went through the roof. Whatever doubts, fears and worries anyone had during the shoot was now quickly replaced with excitement, joy and confidence. Everyone was now all in on what Lucas had in store for them next.  And forty something years later, the franchise has expanded into other movies, television shows, video games, merchandise, and even theme parks.  It is the fifth highest grossing film franchise ever made and is now worth 65 billion dollars.  Many who were involved in the first project are still reaping the rewards all because they invested their time, talents and finances to one man’s vision to carry out to completion his grand story.  In a similar way, like George Lucas, God is our great storyteller and director of our lives. In fact the Bible speaks of our God as being an author. David paints a poetic picture of our God as being an author.  He says in Psalm 139:16, “In your book was written every one of them, the days that were formed for me.”.  In the New Testament book of Hebrews 12:2, it says, “Look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”.  Here Jesus is pictured as the founder and creator of our faith. So, in a way, God is like a great storyteller who is writing in each and every one of us the story of our lives.  But sometimes I think as believers we get discouraged when our story doesn’t quite pan out the way we think it should. Like the cast and crew of the first Star Wars movie, we start to question the director.  We start to wonder what this story is all about. Perhaps we’re getting discouraged over the setbacks and struggles we are going through and we’re wondering if it’s worth investing in God’s story to begin with.  We get disheartened and we begin to lose hope. Some of us want to quit. Maybe we are starting to think that Christianity is just a big joke as we watch the hypocrisy around us by others falsely claiming to know Jesus and embarrassing the name of Christ by their failures.  But I want to encourage you to not throw in the towel just yet.  Remember, that God is still in the making of His grand story.  You are not yet at the end.  The finished product is coming to a theater near you but right now all we can do is  continue to trust our great director that He has a plan for how this will all play out.  I’m pretty sure that when George Lucas wanted more funding, the nervous investors and the studio executives probably wanted to see dailies of what he had filmed so far. George had to give them a glimpse of what was to eventually come. In the same way, God knows we are human, and we are prone to fear, so He gives us His dailies and they are found in His word. He comforts us by what He’s already done and gives us a future hope of what’s to come. In Revelation 21, the apostle John, gives us a glimpse into a believer’s future. The scripture tells of a new heaven and a new earth. It talks about Jesus coming a second time to wipe away every tear, death will be no more, no more suffering, the old former things will be gone.  And from the words of Christ, “Behold I am making all things new”.  What words of comfort. What words of hope. This is what we have in store. So, when you’re feeling like quitting, remember to look to Jesus. Trust Him and He will finish what he started in you. Remember, the finished product is coming. Meditate on verses like those in Revelation and dwell on them.  Let Christ persevere in you and one day, when all is said and done and we pass on from this life to the next, we will all get to witness the epic story of our lives.  I can see it now.   We will all be ushered by the Holy Spirit into a great big movie theater, God the Father will be popping and handing out the popcorn and for the first time we will all see what God was up to all along.  And as the movie ends, Oscars will be handed out that evening by Jesus for being faithful. However, at the end of the ceremony no one will be able to hold their awards for long.  We will all tearfully present them back and bow at the feet of Jesus.  For there is only one who truly deserves all the glory and that will be Jesus the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End.  At that time there will be no dry eye in the house but then God the Father will turn on the lights, and wipe every tear away.  The curtain will close but another one will open and this time He will invite us to take part in the sequel. A movie that will be even bigger and better than the first. A movie that will have no tragedy, no evil villain out to get us, just one endless story of love and happiness between a God and His people.  Now that’s a movie worth waiting for.

Romans 8:28.

For we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2 Corinthians 12:9 English Standard Version (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

We live in a culture today where those that are the strongest survive and thrive. Strength and power is often celebrated, admired and even rewarded.  We honor the athlete that can defy all human odds and demonstrate a great amount of vigor and strength to come out victorious.  People don’t flock to the beaches to see a weak man competition, no they marvel at the muscle men and the incredible feats they can do with their human bodies.  We take great pride in our accomplishments, and are quick to let others know about them. Just look at our Facebook posts.  We all from time to time, like to share with our friends about our strong points and tell others what we’re succeeding at.  No one boasts about those things they struggle in.  No one is quick to share their failures and shortcomings.  Who goes into a job interview and quickly highlights their failures?   No one does that.  If they did, they could forget about landing the job, they’d get fired before they were even hired.  Bottom line, we boast about our strengths and pity those that are weaklings.  Yet when it comes to God’s way of thinking, and for living out the Christian life, God encourages us to do the opposite.  He tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, to boast in our weaknesses.  Quite a contrast from the world’s point of view.  But we’re not called to live like the world. No, God always has a way of flipping the script.  We see this demonstrated in the very life of the Apostle Paul.  He had no major accomplishments or amazing heroics to brag about. In fact, after His conversion to follow Jesus, he went through much hardships for Christ. He dealt with a “thorn” in his flesh that God wouldn’t remove, he suffered with loneliness and rejection, persecution and even prison time, all for the sake of sharing the gospel.   Most of the time, he felt weak rather than strong but rather than trying to muster up his own strength, what he learned was that by boasting in his weaknesses and in his own incapabilities, he was in essence trusting in God’s grace to see him through.   When he realized his own limitations and put his faith in Christ, Christ’s power was able to rest on him.  In other words, Paul wasn’t boasting in his sufferings, he was really bragging in the fact that his sufferings reminded him of his constant need and dependence on Christ for everything.  He was taking pride in the fact that he could do nothing without Christ but with Christ he could do all things, Philippians 4:13.  He encourages us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, that God’s grace is enough to sustain us and empower us to live for God in this temporal and sometimes harsh life filled with thorns rather than roses.  You and I are never promised a thornless life but God does promise us that He is sufficient and He will see us through anything we may be facing.  No matter the weakness, whether it’s a trying circumstance or a sin that so easily entangles, boast in your shortcomings and humbly trust the grace of God to give you the strength to overcome. Remember, receiving God’s power is very much the same way we receive our eternal salvation.  We don’t earn it, we humbly admit we are incapable of saving ourselves and we receive the gift of grace by faith.  It’s the same with receiving Christ’s temporal salvation power for our lives as well.  When we try to earn it we fail but when we accept our limitations and simply trust Him, then His saving power rests upon us. So as believers, we must stop trying to earn God’s temporal saving power and just receive His promise simply by faith alone.  Remember His grace is enough.  When we stop trying in our own strength, we are in essence humbling ourselves and boasting in our weaknesses.  We are declaring that without Him we are nothing.  When we get out of the way and trust Christ alone, then we will receive His grace and find ourselves experiencing His saving power to see us through our time of need.  And like Paul, no matter what comes our way, whether the thorn is removed or not, we’ll be able to boldly proclaim, “WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG”!

2 Corinthians 12:10

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.