Valerie Rae Hanneman
Philippians 1:29 (NIV)”For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him,”
Care Fresno Kid’s Klub started a little shaky this year. Our first day was August 26th, we were gathering for prayer when our beloved Caitlin came in. Her face was tear-stained and broken. “I have to go, they found Ashley from Sugarpine unconscious - I have to go.” With just that information, we prayed for Ashley. Then on Sonday Char Cole gave me an update on Ashley. She had been found in her college dorm room on that previous Friday. She had a brain aneurysm and was in a coma - it didn’t look good. Char reminded me that I had met Ashley, a counselor up at Sugarpine Christian Camps, when she had come down to a couple of our services. We included Ashley on the Wednesday e-praise & prayers and now there were people all over the world praying for her. Six days after they found her unconscious in her dorm room, Ashley passed away.
As I was writing the e-Praise & Prayers the following Wednesday, even as I tried to put the best possible emphasis on Ashley’s passing, my heart cried out, “Father, why Ashley?” It just didn’t seem right to me that Ashley had been taken. She had been a camp counselor for two years and was well-loved by the campers and by the rest of Sugarpine’s staff. Her love for Jesus was evident in her life. Her strong witness for her God had impacted many of the young campers she worked with. Her ambition in life was to serve God, to be used to build the Kingdom. At her young age, her opportunities to influence lives towards Jesus seemed endless. Father, why Ashley?
We say that a lot, don’t we? Why, Father, why? The job we thought would take us to retirement suddenly downsizes and is gone. “Why, Father, Why? Am I not Your child?” A lump under our skin, or a shadow on an x-ray. A grim doctor shakes her head and suddenly our life is not counted in years - but in months. “Why, Father, why? What happened to “all things work together for good?” A beloved teenage child suddenly rejects what you have taught them for so many years and their life seems to spin out of control. “Why, Father, why? I trained them up in the way they should go!”
You pray and you pray and you pray - but there is no answer. The job doesn’t come back, the cancer doesn’t go away, and the child cannot be found. And we suffer. Our brothers and sisters in Christ tell us that if we have enough faith every thing will work out. Only the unemployment is about to run out, months are slipping away, the police have called about our child. “Why, Father, why? What have I done to merit this suffering? Is my faith that weak?”
We know that Father will not give us more than we can bear - but doesn’t it seem like He has a lot more faith in us than we do? We wonder if we are modern day Jobs - surrounded by satan’s slings and arrows.
I have a different thought for us. What if it is not about our faith? What if it is not about our suffering? What if it is not about us at all? What if it is about God’s glory?
Maybe He is not answering our prayers for relief from our suffering because His glory is found in our suffering and our suffering serves His higher purpose. When we can turn to those who watch us suffer and are able to say, “Even though my sorrows like sea billows roll, I know that it is well with my soul.” it makes an impression on them. Our sufferings are not because our faith is weak. Our sufferings strengthen our faith and strengthens the faith of others.
Char, Caitlin and others went to LA to honor Ashley at her Celebration of Life. When Char came back she told me that Ashley’s service was one of the most powerful celebrations of a life in Christ that she had ever been privileged to attend.
Our verse today says that our suffering has been granted to us on behalf of Christ. Granted to us - like an honoring or a gift. Ashley’s family & friends suffered terribly when her promising life was cut short - but God was glorified in her passing. Several people accepted Christ as Savior at Ashley’s service. Even in death she pointed people to Jesus and she made a difference in eternity.
We are going to suffer. It is inevitable. Use your suffering as an opportunity to glorify God. Make a difference in eternity.
Why Ashley? Because it glorified God.
Father, I am not real good at suffering. I sulk and I pout. I wonder if You really love me. Remind me that my suffering has been granted to me on behalf of Christ. Show me how to glorify You through my suffering.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministry of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at October 8, 2005 04:29 PM