Life is Brutal
Call this a sampling error but as a Christian Counsellor, I often feel that I have a front row seat to the things that I’m going to share. I cannot just spill things out impromptu because of privacy issues in counselling ethics but i can safely share that throughout 2024 alone, I’ve encountered divorces, miscarriages, litigations and incarcerations, broken relationships, suicides, bankruptcies, people in extreme depression, you name it!
On the personal front, I’ve a friend who was just sent to prison and my best buddy is still trying to wake up from an already 2-month long streak of unconsciousness from a brain injury. I have much to share but this is not about me, just me illustrating that everyone goes through tough times in life.
Zooming out our lenses to the world, it won’t be hard to see my point that we are truly living in tough times. There are literal wars everywhere, rumors of wars here and there, famine, economic collapses, we even have trains breaking down here in Singapore. As if life is not hard enough.
All these incidents, the things we are witnessing as we speak, makes one wonder: where is God in all these? Here we go again with the problem of pain.
We have to accept The Bible Narrative that we are living in a cursed world:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
Genesis 3:17
We have to accept that we have been living in a world which has rejected God. It began from the very beginning when Adam and Eve chose to go their own way rather than obey The Lord.
Israel who has seen God’s salvation, rejected God with all their golden calves and minglings with the ‘gods’ of foreign nations. These rejections and rebellions all culminated to God drawing His final card by sending His Son to the vineyard He owns; and what did we do? Despite everything He did for us, We crucified Him.
This world, by our free will and by God’s righteousness, is cursed.
By our election, this world has been handed to the rule of the devil.
We are placed in a world at war (between good and evil) where the sheep of God are sent among wolves (Matthew 10:16).
It is a world where the ruler prowls around as a roaring lion seeking whom it may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Romans 8:36
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened to you;
1 Peter 4:12
Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:13
The discussion regarding pain and suffering is not whether there is a God or not. The question now raised is more of: “what have we done when we chose the devil to be our ruler?” “What do we truly deserve for rejecting and crucifying The Son of God when all He did was heal and preached about love?”
All these sufferings and death happen because we have rejected God. Because we have placed our laws and our rules before His’. We have made the choice, between the serpent and God, between Barabbas and The Lord Jesus Christ. We have chosen our ruler and this prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13), this prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), runs this world that he had the audacity to dangle the world to tempt The Lord Jesus Christ with it (Matthew 4:9).
This is why the world is full of hurt and suffering. This is why we live in a brutal world.
We know it and we are no longer surprised by it. Today, we will be prepared for it.
And whatever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:17
This is why in Christian Counselling sessions, we remind each other to pray and pray and pray. Why? Because we can’t afford to start our day without being conscious of God and we can’t afford to end our evenings without acknowledging His loving faithfulness.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night,
Psalms 92:1-2
Gone are the days when the first thing we see are our emails and messages. Gone are the evenings when the last things we see are the lies spewed out by social media. We cannot afford to lose these moments of opportunities to reconnect to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. After all the pain and sufferings this world has thrown on us, we need to know why and what for? I cannot give you your personal meaning and purpose, it is a precious precious secret between you and The Lord. You will have to see and recieve this for yourself during your moments with Him. So pray and pray and pray. We can then be empowered to face this world. In Jesus’ name. Only through His name. Amen.
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