Sometimes I'm just warn out from all the battles in this life. Both inwardly and outwardly wars are waged. My mind is drawn continually into the fray. But how many of my battles are a normal and beneficial part of the Christian life and how many are not? How many are intended by God as a means to my sanctification and how many are a distraction from it? How many are a waste of time?
I think we can all agree, people are at the center of every battle. Whether it's politicians or the news media, previous spouses or estranged children, church leadership or fellow congregants, we can all tell stories of how we've been wronged or are being wronged. (I forgot to throw in bosses and coworkers.) It seems neverending. No one would argue that this stuff has a way of messing with our minds. It robs us of peace and joy and unsettles our lives. People get into our head and never leave.
The standard Christian response to this is to forgive the offender and trust our heavenly Father. This is a biblical solution and it is correct. But I find that past memories and hurts still remain. They don't magically go away with a wave of the Scriptures. Our minds are a storehouse. Nothing leaves. Like a hard drive, all the data that was put in stays in. So I pray, God, is there more to this? The answer is yes.
The solution doesn't end with forgiveness. This is only the first step. What follows is also found in Scripture. Job 42:1–6 (NIV): Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ MY EARS HAD HEARD OF YOU BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
God never told Job why he put him through all those painful trials but we do get a glimpse into one of the results. At the end of Job's difficulties his view of God had changed. He experienced a greater revelation and understanding of the character and nature of his Lord. He knew God in a way he never did before and it forever changed him.
John 17:3 says this: "And this is eternal life, that they KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Every painful thing we experience in this life is meant by God to reveal himself in greater ways to our hearts. He wants us to KNOW HIM, and suffering is one of the ways this is made possible.
As believers in Jesus Christ we have something the unbeliever doesn't, confidence that pain is never a dead end for us but a window into God himself. Suffering rewards us with the very person of Jesus Christ. And this makes it all worthwhile. So the answers to the questions I began with is that ALL our battles are meant for our sanctification and none of them is a waste of time. Only hopelessness and wishing them away is.
