Liz’s Morning Devotional based upon Upper Room
February 7, 2022
Read Isaiah 55:6-9
6 Seek the LORD when he can still be found; call him while he is yet near. 7 Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the LORD so that he may have mercy on them, to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness. 8 My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans.
Good Morning! God loves us!
We often struggle with our confusion with what seem to be unanswered prayers. We want to blame God for our problems. God promises to always be with us, yet we sometimes feel abandoned when we ask for healing and our loved one continues to suffer or die.
How can a loving God allow pain and suffering among His children? Let’s take a moment and consider our earthly existence. As children, we all had times when we had pain. Sometimes this pain came about because of choices that we made. For example, when you went walking barefoot in the park (which of course your mom said you should never do), you cut your foot or get stung by an insect and experience pain.
As a parent, all you can do is provide comfort to your child. You didn’t cause the injury, nor can you remove the pain, so you sit and love your child. As a child, you might not understand why your parent can’t remove the pain, so you doubt them. You might think, “if you love me, why don’t you fix this?” As parents, we try to do everything we can to provide our children with everything they need and protect them from evil. We don’t want them to suffer or struggle, but the “pain” is part of the growing process. As our children mature, they begin to make choices for themselves. Sometimes the choices are good and sometimes the choices don’t work out as they expect, so when the inevitable pain comes we love them, we listen, and we share in their pain.
God, our creator, our parent, faces these same challenges. God doesn’t want any of his children to endure pain and suffering, but like earthly parents, he must allow us to grow and mature. Each of us is given free will to make choices. The choices we make are rarely in complete isolation, so one person’s choice may affect many others. When the pain comes, God is there to love us, listen to us, and share in our pain.
God doesn’t cause the pain and suffering in the world but works with us and through us so that we may learn from our experiences. From our own experiences, we can help others who share our afflictions and sorrow.
Loving God, Thank You for loving us. Lord, open our eyes that we may see, glimpses of truth thou has for me. . . In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: Today I will take time to look for God’s beauty and truth.
Seek the signs! Pastor Liz
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