“Trials reveal your true thoughts and desires, where you have been looking for life, where you have sought meaning, and where you have looked to give you hope.”- Paul David Tripp
“The creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”- Romans 8:21-22 (NLT)
Paul David Tripp continues Chapter 2 of Suffering as he discusses the second through fourth things that deepen our pain.
2. Doubt of God. Suffering, Pastor Tripp observes, always exposes the true nature of your relationship to, as well as communion with, God. And if you question God’s presence, promises, goodness, or faithfulness, that compounds the pain of your suffering.
3. Unrealistic expectations of life. First, the author divides the topic of unrealistic expectations into two categories:
- the expectation that what is will always be – change and decay are ever-present realities. Yet, we get lulled into thinking that what’s with us today will be there tomorrow and in the tomorrow’s that follow.
- refusing to take seriously the drastic brokenness of our world – we must take seriously the groaning condition of our world, or we’ll live with naïve expectations of life. Furthermore, we’ll be unprepared for the trouble coming our way and susceptible to the countless temptations that come our way.
4. Unrealistic expectations of others. We need to remember that while we’re all sinned against, we all sin against others. Also, even when surrounded by fellow believers, the presence of sin remains.
Therefore, it never works to turn someone else into your personal messiah. As a result, you intensify suffering when you elevate people too high in your heart and they fail you.
Today’s question: What have your trials revealed about where you look for life and hope? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Exposing the dangers of self-reliance”
