Please Don't Waste My Life

Remember the sticker on the rented VHS tape that read, "Be kind, rewind"? Or the stickers that were placed on light switch plates that reminded you to conserve electricity? Or in California, the mantra was always to save water and a tip for brushing your teeth was to turn off the faucet during the brushing. The bottom line is, conservation is better than waste.

On the other hand, do you ever contemplate how wasteful our government is with their resources? Or, can you see it in your own state? As a teacher, I can see how prodigal our public school system is with their resources. Teachers sit through countless meetings and some of them are a complete waste of time. How about dating just for "fun"? To me, that's a waste of time. Call me "quirky", but I like things to have a purpose.

I've been reading the book, "Finding your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum"* and I was struck by the author's words, "And one of God's promises is that He never wastes the hurts we have to suffer, but uses them to make us the people He created us to be." These words are not trite. This woman was the victim of a horrendous crime in her 20s, she suffered a divorce, battled cancer and her only child was autistic. On top of it all, she recently had another cancer scare. It is safe to say that she understands what it means to suffer, it's almost as if she is a modern day Job. And yet, she is able to write with conviction that God never wastes our hurts.

Since I teach American Sign Language, I started to think about the sign, SUFFER (ASL vocabulary is typically written in caps). The sign SUFFER is the same sign as PATIENT or BEAR-WITH or you could also use, LIVE CONTINUE CONTINUE. I thought this was interesting because no matter what kind of suffering one endures, you must be patient (or it teaches you patience), you must bear with it or there is a need to continue living despite it.

It's not always easy to recognize someone else's suffering because we tend to equate it with the "big" struggles in life. However, people suffer in all kinds of ways: sickness, physical pain, grief, emotional turmoil, disabilities, job loss, rejection and yes, loneliness. I occasionally experience loneliness but I would never equate it with cancer or persecution or grief. Though there are different degrees of suffering, there is a sense of discomfort and the experience is not pleasant-suffering is suffering is suffering.

We know that when you're a Christian, you are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. However, what happens when you don't have someone in your life that doesn't walk alongside you? How do you react? From my experience, I've become angry which turned to bitterness and then to complete selfishness. Instead of having ill feelings to those that "didn't care", I should have directed my hurt and suffering to the Lord. God puts others in our lives to encourage and admonish, but He wants us to depend solely on Him. Sometimes we interpret abandonment of our friends when the Lord's purpose was to look to Him for comfort.

Last weekend, a 35 year old teacher at our school (mother and wife as well) was diagnosed with chronic leukemia and I think the question on the forefront of everyone's mind is, why? As a Christian, God causes us to suffer because it completes our sanctification, it teaches us to trust Him, it brings glory to Him, it teaches us compassion and helps us to witness to others, it teaches us gratitude, it teaches us that we're not of this world and it teaches us who God is. If you don't go through suffering, you won't reap the benefits of spiritual growth.

I love that my 87 year old friend Marge doesn't succumb to fear or anxiety when hit with suffering, instead, she goes to the Lord with all of her cares. She is not always comfortable with her finances, secure in her widowhood or always feeling healthy. However, because she is older and has had many trials throughout her life, she has seen the Lord work in many ways. Her trust in Him is firm and that's why it always so encouraging to talk to a Christian senior. You know when you're a kid and you always say you hope to live 'til you're a hundred and then when you become an adult, you say, "I hope not!"? Well, I hope that I live long so that my faith is as strong as Marge's.

For me, suffering has taught me so much. For the times I've been lonely, I've tried to reach out to those experience the same thing. For the time that I experienced severe grief when my cousin died of cancer, God's truth was my comfort. For the times when I've not been secure in my job, I've come to realize that there is only one Security in my life. For any other suffering I've had to endure, I've learned to work on humility and realize that God is in control of my life-not me.

I am ever so grateful that God never wastes our trials-they are all for His good. They are not just an experiment where He wants to see what happens-they are purposeful and cause great spiritual growth in our lives. With suffering, we can experience eternal joy in the midst of it. With suffering, God can accomplish what He wants through us. With suffering, God can be glorified. With suffering, we can be obedient to His will and receive great bouts of joy!

It is good for me that I was afflicted,

that I might learn your statutes-Psalm 119:70

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant-Psalm 119:75-77

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore-Psalm 16:11

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain-Hebrews 6:17-19

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him-James 1:12

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.-II Corinthians 1:3-7

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again-II Corinthians 1:8-10

Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life-Proverbs 16:31

The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair-Proverbs 20:29

*Finding Your Child's Way On The Autism Spectrum by Dr. Laura Hendrickson