Lamentations 3:33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.

This verse expresses something that I tell people with considerable frequency, and that is that God is not mean. Often we don’t know why unpleasant things happen to us, but we need to have it settled in our hearts and minds that God isn’t just picking on us. The initial cause of something unpleasant is sin, either our own, someone else’, or simply because we live in a fallen world. If everyone listened obediently to God all the time, we wouldn’t have any of it! The point then becomes, how do we respond to the unpleasantness? That question governs almost entirely how much we enjoy life. If we nurse the negatives, being resentful and unforgiving, then we will be miserable, period. If we seek to learn from the negatives, believing and trusting this verse, the fact that God is love (1 John 4:8), and that God can and does work everything together for good (Romans 8:28), then we will be cheerful, optimistic, and genuinely enjoy our time on this earth. We are like little children, unable to accept that Daddy won’t let us do some things because they are bad for us or makes us do other things because they are good for us. When we really get it through our heads that God loves us and actively works for our good, then we can start looking for the good that He intends in circumstances that aren’t pleasant. In other words, we need to grow up! We need to keep a child-like wonder and delight in all the good things our Father gives us, but we need to stop insisting on a diet of ice cream and cookies.

I well remember the time an acquaintance brought a friend of his to meet me, telling his friend, “I want you to meet someone who really enjoys living.” That acquaintance was a member of Sokagakkai, a militant Buddhist sect that is analogous to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but he could see that I enjoyed life more than he did. Sadly, he didn’t accept my explanation of why I enjoyed life, and it’s been several years since I last saw him. More recently I had a psychology professor, whom I have taught with for over 30 years, tell me he really enjoys his encounters with me because I am always cheerful and upbeat. There too I tried to tell him why, but he wasn’t ready to accept that “religion” was the answer to it all. Actually, religion isn’t the answer; I’ve known plenty of miserable Christians! The answer is faith that this verse is true, and that God is love, and that He can and will use anything that is yielded to Him to bless me. I do still lose sight of that in the short term occasionally, but years of experience have convinced me that it is absolutely true, and that is an enormous comfort and blessing.

Father, thank You for so graciously teaching me this over the years. Thinking about it, the hospital staff seemed a little surprised at my cheerful attitude toward having skin cancer surgery the other day! Thank You for who You are, for Your grace, love, and mercy. Help me communicate that more and more effectively to more and more people. Give them faith and courage to believe as well, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!