Theme of the Week: Why Is Life So Hard?
Bible Verse: Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. Psalm 107:23
Scripture Reading: Psalm 107:23-32
A third reason for suffering is because we can be victims.
The picture the Psalmist describes here is merchants traveling across the sea to carry out their business. In the course of their journey, they encountered a terrible storm. “In their peril, their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end.”
It seems to me that the merchants were at the mercy of the captain of the ship. They entrusted themselves to his wisdom, and he decided to sail into the storm.
Sometimes, our suffering comes as a direct result of another’s actions. This seems grossly unfair.
- A spouse commits adultery.
- A child is abused.
- A co-worker spreads malicious lies.
- A drunk driver slams into a vehicle.
There is so much evil and wickedness in the world and it is unbelievably horrible what humans will do to each other. Wouldn’t it be better to just stop those people in their tracks? Why are people allowed to do such terrible things to innocent others?
The Bible says that we were created in the image of God.
God knew that love is the most important and most powerful action in the world, and He wanted us to experience it. But to really experience love, we had to be given the true freedom of choice. We had to be given the choice to love or not to love. We had to be given the choice to do evil as well as good.
This is a very risky venture because it means that the choice to do evil is very real…but it’s the only way. And all of us are given that choice.
We live in a world where the option to not love is often chosen, and because of that, very real and terrible suffering exists.
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