… let the afflicted hear and rejoice. — Psalm 34:2
There are three kinds of trials. Those that bring us directly into the everlasting presence of God (martyrdom, death). Those where we experience God’s intervention immediately. And those where we have to wait.
Sometimes all we know in a trial is pain; we can’t find God anywhere. Only later do we come back to those painful places and discover that God was there all along.
From God’s point of view, He would never allow pain in our lives if it didn’t accomplish some good that we will both agree is far greater than the pain we experienced (Romans 8:18).
What is that good?
I remember one day in September almost 30 years ago that I went to a church meeting with a group of friends. We were all college students, and as we got back to campus our large group scattered until there were only two of us, Kim Rohrer and Dwight Clough. I meant to say good night and go back to my dorm room, but something kept me there, under the arch in Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute.
This girl, this young woman, Kim, started telling me the story of her life — her year in the Philadelphia ghetto, her trip to Israel, her experiences as a lifeguard. All of a sudden I realized that I was spellbound.
I don’t remember how the conversation ended or how I got back to my dorm room. I just remember lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling with a smile on my face that wouldn’t go away.
I had discovered the love of my life.
Now I already knew Kim. I met her a year earlier. I even went grocery shopping with her once. But somehow that evening I discovered someone I never knew was there.
So why can the afflicted rejoice? Because we are about to discover Someone we never knew was there.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.