I believe that I have a muse, and that she lives in the shower.
I fear that what I have just written may put me firmly in the category of those who are utterly insane, or those who are arrogant enough to believe the world should be hanging on their every word. Or – more simply – ‘writer’, which is a combination of the two.
The Kingdom of God is frustrating, mysterious, slow, inefficient.
God is in dark, dark places. But not with an instant pick-me-up solution. Sometimes it seems He is doing nothing and that perhaps He isn’t there. The cries for help seem to bounce off the ceiling. Pain is painful, and no less so for believers.
But alongside the truth of suffering, we need to acknowledge the truth that God is good, and that He does good work in dark pits.
Unfortunately, far too many of us suffer because we think the questions mean we are not true believers. That if we had a real faith then even in the most tragic of situations we wouldn’t have any questions. That our faith would be unshakeable. Unbreakable. That’s the lie. I can’t help but wonder if the opposite is actually true. What if our questions actually reveal the strength of our faith rather than its weakness?
I can truly say, then, that God has been vividly present in my pain. Not that he wants us to suffer, either directly or indirectly. Rather, he is present in our suffering, helping to redeem and transform it.
We were at the back of the hall, both of us, huddled up, our backs against the wall. Her coat smelt faintly of the secret cigarette she’d smoked before she came in.
Praise the Lord.
Praise the God of summer and bloom;
Praise the God of autumn and shrivelled leaves.
When I think of Leanne Penny, the word that comes to mind is ‘redemptive’. She has lived a painful story and her writing is filled with hard-won hope and light. I love that she is talking about the whole concept of redemptive art, as she really lives this out, and it is beautiful. Over to […]
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Tanya Marlow blogs on the Bible, suffering and the messy edges of life [read more]