The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883).
In the book of James we read that we are to “count it all joy” when we fall into various trials. We are to have joy amidst suffering? This is so counter-cultural considering that most people go to great lengths to try to avoid suffering of any kind.
Not that we need to wish for it or search it out, but when suffering comes into our lives it does play a purpose. It tests our faith. It helps us grow. It makes us more reliant upon God. Puritan writer Thomas Watson wrote, “God takes away the world, that the heart may cleave more to him in sincerity.”
Suffering, as my family has experienced, has a way of reordering our priorities and brings into focus what is truly important. Often times it is not the activity that we often fill our days with.
This is Shane Vander Hart with your Caffeinated Thought of the Day.
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