Getting into the mindset and the head of the apostle Paul is rather uncomfortable at times. It’s uncomfortable because we like ourselves the way we are. That’s to say that we are comfortable with what we’ve got now. In one sense we assume we have enough strength to do what we need to do, thatContinue reading “Productive Suffering”
Tag Archives: Suffering
Psalm 13 – A Model for Suffering and Lament
How do you deal with your pain? We could ignore it and pretend it’s not there. We could medicate ourselves so that we feel less pain or suffering. If the pain is caused by someone who wants to hurt us then we want to hurt them back. We could blame others for our pain, sometimesContinue reading “Psalm 13 – A Model for Suffering and Lament”
On Pandemic Prayers
Over the last while I’ve heard prayer requests from people around me for the Covid-19 pandemic to end. This reminds me of other prayer requests I have heard from both adults and children for God to protect us from bad things. I was reflecting on this. So often we want God to take our troublesContinue reading “On Pandemic Prayers”
Taking Hold – Reflecting on Ellie
Recently my wife and I remembered the death of our daughter as it was the anniversary of the day she died (28.07.20). As with such important times, we tread carefully. It is a time of remembrance, of reflection, of joy at life, and morning of death. Also, as it was the first anniversary – theContinue reading “Taking Hold – Reflecting on Ellie”
Comparing our Sufferings
When we go through suffering we often compare our suffering to someone else’s. We do this for a few reasons I think. Sometimes we are just trying to be polite as we confront someone who has suffered what we perceive as ‘more’. Sometimes we think it can help us get a perspective on our sufferingContinue reading “Comparing our Sufferings”
Stewarding with Faithfulness
The call to steward whatever we have with all faithfulness is a lesson that I learned in the most difficult time of my life, when I lost my daughter Ellie on her eighth day of life. I knew she was going to die. So I had to decide how I was going to live inContinue reading “Stewarding with Faithfulness”
A New Year’s Poem
A poem for the new year
Grief in a ‘pleasure v pain’ world
Mark Vroegop in his book on lament “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy” writes this, “Finding an explanation or a quick solution for grief, while an admirable goal, can circumvent the opportunity afforded in lament – to give a person permission to wrestle with sorrow instead of rushing to end it.” (p.19) This quote got me thinkingContinue reading “Grief in a ‘pleasure v pain’ world”
To Ponder Suffering
As I ponder upon the magnitude and intensity of human suffering – specifics, generalisations, through history, at this very moment – I shake my head. Sometimes there are no words. Who can truly fathom it? Who can really give an exhaustive answer? Only God. In our limited experience we can do not much more thanContinue reading “To Ponder Suffering”
On God as Refuge
What does it mean for God to be a ‘rock of refuge’? If I trust God to be this, does that mean that he will prevent bad things from happening in my life? This is a question that myself and a friend were recently discussing. Perhaps you might have wondered the same thing. The ideaContinue reading “On God as Refuge”
Bigvai and Shiphrah 