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volume 1
By Nancy Virden c2011
Hello! This is the “heavenly voice” of the SIOL Band’s new weekly blog. (I’ll send $5 to the first person who catches the reference). It seems only fair to let you in on a little secret- I don’t do fluff. This blog may cause you to think, shout amen, make a fist, or in some other way create in you an urgent need to comment. I welcome all of the above.
This will not be a purely religious blog although I am a Christian and what I think is definitely influenced by that fact. Rather, I hope to present a unique outlook on the world, one that is naturally mine and yet brings us all to the table no matter what we believe. This blog will feature true stories of currently living individuals. You may be surprised by what is coming- personally I hope to be challenged along with you.
If God is in Control, Why am I Suffering?
She agonized in tears, unable to contain her sobs.
“Why did God allow me to think I heard His voice in the decision to go off my medications? I was certain he was healing me.”
“I don’t know”, the therapist answered carefully. “You’re not alone in your struggle to understand God’s guidance, Emma. Off the top of my head I guess I would say an instant cure in your situation would have been short of the best for you.”
“Why?”
“Think of it this way. If God had healed your depression instantly you would feel better, yes? However, you would not be learning to deal with your past traumas, developing healthier ways of coping, and relationships would remain difficult for you to manage.”
The therapist continued, “I had a client who once had an abscessed tooth. She was so afraid of dentists she kept that abscessed tooth for four years. When she was a young child, a dentist had slapped her across the face for crying during a tooth pull. So rather than face a dental chair again, for four long years she ate on the left side of her mouth, tried not to completely close her mouth at all, and dealt with the daily pain.
She asked God to cure her- she didn’t want to go to the dentist! ‘Please’, she begged. Yet he did not mend her tooth. Instead, one day in desperation she looked for a dentist in the Yellow Pages. All the while, she was praying through tears, ‘God, please at least lead me to the right one.’
Right up to the door of the dentist’s office she was asking God to heal her so she wouldn’t have to go through with what was coming- another tooth pull. Nevertheless, He did not. At this point, she was definitely wondering why God wasn’t answering her prayers. In tears and shaking, she sat in the dental chair.
Following all this struggle, my client emerged with a growing new attitude. This dentist had not been abusive. He was kind and patient. Carefully selected anesthetics had made her entire experience better than she had imagined it would be. Before she left his office, she had scheduled her next appointment to begin regular checkups.
Years later, talking in my office, she and I could see how that experience was helping her to trust even in the middle of deeper personal pain. Now, Emma, if my client had been healed of her sore tooth, what would have changed in her life? She would still be living in fear as well as dealing with God-only-knows-what dental issues. Do you see how we might easily misunderstand His guidance based on what we want so passionately? Still, He directs us with our best interests at heart.”
What do you think, readers? Does God have your best interests at heart?
Is He really in control?
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