A friend of mine in Namibia calls a spade a spade. The other day, someone drove up to him spoiling for a fight and challenged him with this question: “How can a loving God allow Covid to happen?”

My friend responded straight-faced: “Who says God is a loving God?” That man’s self-importance was instantly deflated.

But it made me think. Is our picture of God a picture of a loving grandfather who pulls us onto His lap and softly combs through our hair with His fingers? Is He the loving Father who has forgotten all our sins, since Jesus had died on the cross for that very purpose?

Not much wrong with this, because God does overflow with love for us. But there is another side. A side we’d rather not hear about and rather hide away. ⁵So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as His children? ⁶My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child He loves that He disciplines; the child He embraces, He also corrects.

This kind of goes against the grain, but it’s a major truth. Love hurts sometimes, as the saying goes. A parent that loves a child will teach that child at one time or another, even if the teaching is accompanied by pain.

That’s a given. Sometimes we go through hard times. Sometimes pain charges through your front door and makes you suffer. And I’m not saying that God made each of those things get to you.

Life happens and suffering is part of life. What I do understand is that God is able to actually use our circumstances, the suffering, the pain, to shape us.

We are much more open in times of suffering. Our ears open up to hear the soft voice whispering. At times like these we notice the frogs in the pipe and realise that we have to get rid of them. At times like these we notice the baggage that came into our lives unnoticed, but now holds us back.

With love God then uses the circumstances to help us. Maybe life has hit us so hard that we did not even notice that we’ve changed direction and taken a wrong turning. We don’t even realise we are going in the wrong direction or even towards eternal death.

This is when God helps us to get back on the bridge. This is not always easy and often bring even more pain. When we’re in this stage, we shouldn’t ask where God is or how God’s love works. No, we should rather ask what God wants to tell us. What does He want to get rid of? Where does He want us to act differently, so that we can know for sure that we’re not getting lost on the way to finding Him?

Therefore, let’s not give up in times of suffering. Let’s keep looking inward and take the frogs out of the pipe one by one, so that we can know for sure that we’ll reach our loving Father.

Scripture
Hebrews 12:4-11

Reflections
What challenges are you facing?
How do you see God?
What do you have to do differently?

Prayer
Father, this is a hard one. It doesn’t fit the picture I have of You. But I do understand that You will discipline those You love. Please help me not to get discouraged. Please help me not to give up. In Jesus’ Name, amen.