Bearing our Crosses…
‘The Problem of Pain’ by CS Lewis is only one of a myriad of books written to deal with life’s misfortunes and perceived injustices. Why do bad things happen to good people? Yet it is also universally accepted that lasting lessons are learned only with effort and difficulty. Difficult times have been my greatest teachers. It can be observed in your own life and that of others: that painful events, tragedies and what seems to be misfortune often turn out to be stepping stones up to plateaus of higher wisdom.
The real problem is to have Faith and preserver in spite of what appears to be insurmountable obstacles. That is the true RUB. It may be easy to say for instance that, “This too shall pass.” But our hearts cry out, “I don’t want to do this. I can’t take this. It’s not fair.” Still we know that all spiritual beliefs and practices tell us that difficulties and obstacles in our way serve to strengthen us when we confront them with courage and determination. In these moments we cry out for help:
O Lord, I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as a part of life. I pray that I may make use of it in helping other people.-Anonymous
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Matthew 6:25-27 NKJV
Today I will listen for the Heartbeat of God in His creation and His creatures.
Here from this morning’s readings are CS Lewis’ thoughts on:
‘The Necessity of Tribulation’
“I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s Grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me under the threat because it is now associated with the misery of those few days thus the terrible necessity of the tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then ONLY by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over – I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. And that is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us as remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless.”
Finally:
“I have seen great beauty of spirit in some who were great sufferers. I have seen men, for the most part, grow better not worse with advancing years, and I have seen the last illness produce treasures of fortitude and meekness from most unpromising subjects…” CS Lewis
Lord, help us to bear our crosses and help others to carry their’s with Grateful Hearts…
For Jesus said, ““And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:38-39 NASB
(This morning I had similar thoughts but this old post summed up most of what I was thinking. This was originally posted as ‘Tribulations’ on September 28, 2015. I only slightly modified it today…)