I got home from class tonight with some disappointing news. A friend of ours is in the hospital who I blogged about a month or so ago and this time, it does look like it’s only a matter of time. The general consensus has been about pain and suffering and how horrible it is and sometimes, we would like this world to be a better place.
I’m going to be blunt, and some people won’t like my terminology, but sometimes life just sucks.
I’m also going to be blunt. We Christians need to admit that.
I am so sick of seeing us go and act like we always have to be happy. Guess what everyone! I’m not! I’m willing to bet I’m not alone in the universe in this way. I’m betting there are times that you just want to scream or break down or do whatever it is that you do in handling grief.
And sadly, one of the worst places to go to for this is church. Why? No one comes to church sad! You ever noticed that? We’re all supposed to come there happy and we’re ready to praise the Lord. You want the truth? There are several times I don’t want to praise the Lord. There are several times I don’t like what’s going on in my life and I am just angry or sad or depressed and I don’t want to sing about how wonderful the Christian life is.
Don’t do that though. You’ll break the image.
No. My friend is in the hospital and it looks like we’re going to lose her and I’m a bundle of emotions thinking about it. There is a part that does realize God is my only hope in all of this. There’s also a part though that wants to scream out at God and ask him why he’s not helping her. There’s a part that wants to cry and beg and ask if I can make any “deals” with God.
Now I don’t think I could, but I think we all recognize the tendency. I know I wish I could swoop in somehow and save the world and have us all go home happy. Unfortunately, I can’t do that. He’s letting this happen. The truth is, I just have to trust him. Another truth is that I don’t necessarily have to like it. It’s okay to have questions and emotions.
Yeah. I’m talking with several now and laughing some but then I come back here and remember the truth. When I go to bed tonight, it might hit me harder. I don’t know. I just think I need to go on with my life either way. I can’t change things, so I might as well learn to accept them.
One thing should change though.
I and you should not go through this situation or any situation like this alone. We need each other. We are called a body but too often, we act like rogues. We each want to be Lone Rangers and do our own thing. I remember being left alone for years in the church with no one teaching me about apologetics. Is it any shock now that I spend so much time talking to younger people about it so that they will have what I never did?
You know what? Happiness is good, but you are not commanded to always be happy. Jesus was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Paul wrote about many of his trials in 2 Corinthians. Read the letter. It’s all the way through. Where did we get this idea that the Christian life means you’ll never doubt, you’ll never suffer, you’ll always feel happy, you’ll always feel the presence of God (Whatever that means), and that you can cheer up and sing your heart out everyday.
It’s not real Christianity, and the world knows it. They need to know when we bleed also. That way when we do, they can see what a loving Christian family does when one is hurt. They will never see that if we never reveal the hurt. If we don’t trust them enough to reveal the hurt, why should we expect the non-Christian to trust them?
Tonight, I’m still a jumble, but I know I do have friends. I know that they’re encouraging me and even today, I need that encouragement. So do you. I hope I can be there for you as well.
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