The Road Marked With Suffering

Belinda Kersey  written 8/07

God’s Word

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The Song

Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman
 

My Thoughts

David was often on the road marked with suffering.  Notice I did not say the road was CALLED suffering.  David’s road was filled with the mightiest triumphs as well as the most horrific tragedies, yet he was able to call his Lord blessed whether “the sun was shining down” on him or he was “found in the desert place”.  If you believe your circumstances are the worst anyone has ever endured and you have the right to call God unjust, then just read a little about David’s life in the books of Samuel.

How auspicious was his introduction in the Bible.  He was hand-picked by God and officially anointed to be the King of Israel by the prophet Samuel.  Oh my, he was going to be special, he’d be on Easy Street!  As a boy, he faced giants while men cowered in their tents.  What a mighty warrior he would be, his road was Victory.  He sat at the feet of the King he would succeed and played his harp to sooth the kings soul.  What talent he possessed as he traveled on the road of Good Fortune.

But then, rocks appeared on his road to the kingship, thrown there by the very one his music had soothed.  He was driven to run for his life and to live in caves like an animal, not just for a few days but for years.  Still he could sing  “blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering, though there is pain in the offering,  blessed be your name.”  He lost his dearest, most trusted friend and it seemed he had no one to turn to, yet  his Lord was right beside him and could see the glorious end of the road even when David could not.  Because of God’s protection and mercy, David often blessed the name of the Lord in the Psalms  he wrote.

Even when David seemed to have finally achieved the road of Triumph, he chose to sin with the bathing beauty Bathsheba and then send her husband to his death.  Yet, David turned to the Lord in the midst of his hideous sin and found healing and forgiveness. Even in the face of  his family tragedies-a failed marriage, incest, loss of an infant son and on and on, David blessed the Lord, his Maker. 

And we whine when our plans get changed.  We complain when traffic is too heavy.  We turn our backs on our heavenly Father when the pain becomes too much.  But that same Father is standing beside us on the road waiting to lead us over the rocks of pain.  He wants to comfort us on the path of grief. You see, the road God has given us is not named Suffering, the road we are on is called Life and that path will have other roads marked with happiness, roads marked with grief, roads marked with triumph and even roads marked with suffering.  But Father can see the end of the road! He knows that if we choose to bless Him in all of our circumstances,  then we will find the journey will lead us straight into a heavenly home where every painful, plodding step will be forgotten.  This road we are on is not leading us to the end of our life, it is taking us to our Eternal  Life!

Your Response

Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name!