Posted by Dena on July 30, 2005, at 8:42:10
In reply to Re: can we have a Group Prayer of faith » cockeyed, posted by Carolina on July 29, 2005, at 7:08:21
You've both described, in powerful and personal ways, how a human being hits a type of "bottom", and,having NO WHERE ELSE to go, cries out to the One we all sense is there...
He responds to such genuine cries for help... and, in His mercy, He even allows, and understands the curses that we fire off at Him. He knows our pain, feels it with us, and isn't shocked at how our pain causes us to lash out...
Suffering in this life is a given -- sometimes due to our own choices, and also, due to the choices of others... it's the price for having free will, and not having been created as robots.
God loves us enough to let us make choices -- including the choice to love Him back - or not. I believe that His love is always being poured out to us... His truth always flowing out to us... and we have the choice to "tune in" to that love and truth, or to shut ourselves off from it, and try to go it alone.
He'll let us, despite how He grieves for our choice, and the pain that will result.
And yet, choosing Him, and His way, doesn't guarantee a life of no pain... far from it. Suffering is just part of the package of being alive on planet Earth.
It comforts me to know (& to have experienced) His presence in the middle of the suffering ... and He uses that very suffering to bring us closer to Him, and to teach us about trust, faith, and patience (I know, I hate that word, too!)...
It ain't easy, but in the end, it's well worth the pain.
Thank you both for daring to share your stories -- they were profound and real, and I've been touched.
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:535035
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050510/msgs/535582.html