We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine is undoubtedly a yellow, four-fingered family. I am talking about the Simpsons of course. Hubby is a huge fan too – so we have shared many a belly laugh when reminiscing about past episodes. I re-watch the episodes a million times and they never lose their novelty. I laugh at the jokes just as hard the 30th time as I did the first. I am also ashamed/proud to say that I can recite some of their episodes word for word. Can you tell that I maybe like The Simpsons just a little bit?
In one of the episodes, son Bart wanders away from his family and ends up in a room where an auction is taking place. The auctioneer asks for bids and Bart shouts “one dollar!” The auctioneer proceeds to try to drum up bids by essentially speaking gibberish but after no one else bites, the item gets sold to Bart for $1. Bart, not knowing what he has just bought, is informed that he is now the proud new owner of “35 Industry Way”; a run-down, abandoned factory. He is excited, naturally – I mean what 10 year old boy gets to own a ‘factory’? He appoints himself President and ‘hires’ his best friend Milhouse Van Houtten to clean and watch over the factory.
It’s day one on the job. The two boys are unsure of what to do with themselves. They decide to bang up some walls and melt calculators in vats of industrial waste that they found in the factory. Later we see Milhouse cleaning the floors while Bart supervises from a second floor ‘office’. Bart sounds the horn indicating that the work-day is over. Here is how the conversation goes:
“Oh boy! Quitting time!” Milhouse says as he puts on his jacket.
“Just a minute Van Houtten!” Bart interrupts him while holding a police hat and a baton. “Somebody needs to guard this place tonight so it doesn’t get trashed. How would you like to be night watchman?”
“But I’m sleepy!” Milhouse protests.
“Aah – no problemo”, Bart says putting the hat on him. “Here is a nickel for the coffee machine.”
Milhouse hangs his head in defeat as he walks to the coffee machine. He inserts his coin and the first thing to fall into his cup is a rat. It quickly climbs out of the cup and runs off. The coffee then flows into his cup. He takes a swig of the coffee (eeew), spins his baton around and says to himself: “So this is my life! At least I’ve done better than dad.”
It’s the next morning. Bart whistles happily as he reports to work. Upon approaching the factory his whistling stops and he gasps in shock to find that his beloved factory is in rubbles. Milhouse is standing there looking at the collapsed factory with his mouth wide open.
“Aah geez! Milhouse! How could you let this happen? You were supposed to be the night watchman!” Bart says scoldingly.
To which Milhouse responds: “I was watching! I saw the whole thing. First it started falling over, then it fell over.”
Sometimes when bad things happen in our lives, we, like Bart, wonder where God was. We think He was asleep at the switch or that He was absent. But God never ever sleeps nor slumbers (Psalms 121:4). And He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:8). But His constant presence doesn’t mean that we get to live in a bubble. There are times when God will permit what we would consider unfavourable situations to enter into our lives for reasons only He in His sovereignty knows at the time. (I use the word “permit” because contrary to what some may think, God isn’t the source of all our hardships. Satanic attacks and also our own doing can lead us to unfavourable spaces). While we may not always like our situation or see why it is necessary, we need to trust that if God permitted it, He has a bigger reason for it; something bigger than the pain, inconvenience, hardship or suffering we will go through on account of the trial.
I know most people struggle with a thought similar to this: “But God is not Milhouse! He is powerful and nothing is too difficult for Him. Surely He could have prevented my world from falling apart. So why didn’t He?” Questioning why an able God didn’t stop your world from falling apart is perhaps the biggest source of pain and confusion in a believer’s life.
This is what I think…. our lives will inadvertently reflect the environment we find ourselves in. We live in a fallen, imperfect world, and we ourselves are encased in vessels of a fallen nature. So we cannot therefore expect to lead perfect, trouble-free lives. That kind of perfection is reserved for eternity, when we finally get rid of these temporary jars of clay and get ushered into a perfect Kingdom where we will reign with Christ. God promised us that in this world we will have trouble – but He went on to say “fear not, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
The beautiful thing about the situations God permits to enter our lives, good or bad, is that in Romans 8:28, He has promised that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. When we look back, we can see in retrospect, why He permitted us to walk some difficult paths; and if we are honest with ourselves, we will agree that God walked right alongside us. Granted there are some things that will never make sense to us, even with the passage of time. But that would be a good time to remember that we were never meant to understand everything God does – because that would make us His equals.
Finally, permit me to include this devotional on trials from my favorite preacher, Dr. Charles Stanley (www.intouch.org).
“When adversity hits you like a ton of bricks, it could easily throw you into a pit of discouragement and despair. Although you may regard difficulties as setbacks, the Lord sees them as times for great advancement. His purpose in allowing them is not to destroy you but to stimulate your spiritual growth. In His great wisdom, the Lord knows how to take an awful situation and use it to transform you into the image of Christ and equip you to carry out His will. We think faithful Christians don’t deserve to suffer, but from God’s perspective, suffering is what produces faithful Christians.
Every adversity that comes into your life is sifted through God’s permissive will. That doesn’t mean the difficulty itself is His perfect will, but He’s allowed the trial to touch you so that He can use it to accomplish His wonderful purposes for your life. Although some of the suffering we see and experience seems senseless or blatantly evil, we must recognize that we have a very limited perspective and cannot always understand what the Lord is doing.
Our heavenly Father sees every aspect of life, but our view is restricted to what is right before us. His plans include not only you but also all of His creation, and they reach from the beginning of time to eternity. Though we’ll never grasp the infinite mind of God, we can know His faithfulness and love. When you can’t understand God’s ways, focus on His perfect knowledge, wisdom, and power rather than the magnitude of your sorrow. Remember, He sees the entire picture and loves you more than you can imagine. This is a time to walk by faith, as perfect understanding comes only in heaven.”
Be encouraged. If you allow it, the trial you’re going through can be a powerful tool in God’s hand to propel you to unspeakable heights in your spiritual development. Hang in there. Joy comes in the morning.
Here is one of the songs that picks me up when I feel down in the dumps. May it minister to you as well.
Another great piece of writing. My favourite quote “We think faithful Christians don’t deserve to suffer, but from God’s perspective, suffering is what produces faithful Christians.”
I had never looked at it that way. Thanks for sharing.
Many thanks Wanja! That quote was so profound to me too. Eye opener.