Transcript
When you're going through a huge global pandemic, a crisis like what we're now facing, it's important to realize, to understand, that you never just suffer the trouble. You always also suffer the way that you suffer the trouble. Now you say, "Paul, that's kind of confusing."
Suffering Is Never Neutral
Well, here's what I mean by that. Suffering is never neutral because you always bring something to whatever it is you suffer. You see, God created us to be meaning-makers, to have this drive to make sense out of our lives. I say this all the time, that human beings, made in the image of God, do not live life based on the facts of their experience, but based on their interpretation of facts. We're always interpreting. That means your response to a situation, like what we're in right now, is not based just on the facts of the situation, but on your interpretation of those facts.
There's another thing that I repeat quite often, that no one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You are in a constant conversation with yourself, and the things that you say to you about you, about God, about the situations and relationships of life, are profoundly important because they're formative of your thoughts, your desires, and your subsequent actions, choices, and decisions.
So I want to say to you, be very aware of how you're interpreting this present moment. You see, we know something. We know that we are not just weak victims in the middle of a situation that is out of control. No, that's not true. That's not a proper interpretation. If you interpret this situation that way, no wonder you would fall into panic and fear, and discouragement, and depression, and anxiety.
Children of the Lord of Lords
No, we understand this. We are the children of the Lord of Lords, the great Almighty One, who sits on the throne of the universe, who is in absolute control of everything that happens. In fact, scripture says He rules over all things for the sake of His body, the Church. And so we have reason for hope, not because we're able, not because we're strong, not because we're wise, but because God is, and He is our father.
You see, proper interpretation of this moment begins with remembering God, and that He is on His throne, that He has never felt dread, He's never been confused, He's never been afraid, He's never felt weak or unable, He never worries about what's going to happen next, He never feels overwhelmed by a situation. You see, that's got to be your interpretive grid, God and His existence, and who He is, and your relationship to Him by grace. May that be at the center of the way that you make sense out of this moment.
Remember, you never just suffer the thing that you're suffering, you always suffer the way that you're suffering that because we never come empty-handed. We always bring a worldview that shapes the way we live through a moment. May God be in the center of that worldview, and that may give you hope in the middle of situations that otherwise would seem hopeless. God bless you as you do that.
