That is exactly how faith works when trying to make sense of the world. Faith turns to look at the big picture – the revelation of God in the Word of God, the Bible. Here is where I read that God has a purpose – “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Here is where I see that there is a purpose for my pain – “suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3).
Here is where I see that pain is about preparation – “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)
Here is where I see that the preparation is for entrance into paradise – “a new heavens and new earth” where God “will wipe away every tear for their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:1-4).
Here is where I see that the whole purpose of God is about the central of a key person, the Lord Jesus Christ – “all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). He tells me he is precious when He reminds me – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And He promises to be present with me wherever I go –“fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:5); “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Puzzles, pieces and pictures! I take all the disjoined pieces of life that I cannot understand; I take them to the Word of God with prayer. The panorama of God’s eternal purpose is where it all comes together. I don’t need to understand why God made it this way! Why there is pain! Why there is this kind of pain or that kind of pain! Why did things have to be like this! I simply trust that God designed it so as to be for my good and for his glory. And I await the day when, in the words of Corrie Ten Boom, ‘God will unroll the canvas, And reveal the reason why.’
Soli Deo Gloria
