I can see the promised land, though there’s pain within Your plan.
The opening lyrics to one of my favorite songs (Every Giant Will Fall, by Rend Collective) is a powerful message to the hope of Heaven.
The promised land is ahead. Yet woven in God’s plan is something we do not enjoy–and often don’t count on–suffering.
The pain of life on earth frequently overshadows the hope of Heaven in our minds; we are unable to see past the circumstances of our present to the glorious Promised Land ahead. And, on days we do manage to catch a glimpse of our glorious future, we often wonder what we must endure before we reach it.
Sometimes, reflecting on the pain in our past, we can see a purpose in it. Yet more often, God’s plan is hidden from us. God’s purposes are not ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) and we may never know the full extent of His plan.
Yet in times of suffering, there is a way to look beyond our pain and trust that there is a purpose and a plan–even if we cannot ever see the entirety of it.
Promised Trials, Promised Purpose
James 1:2-3 (ESV) states, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
On the straight and narrow path, we are not told that life will be easy. No, instead God tells us that we will experience trials.
But this verse gives us a taste of the purpose we can find in our suffering. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James mentions the idea of steadfastness or the word steadfast several times in his letter. In James 5:11, he explains that “we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.” He goes on to mention Job as one who remained steadfast.
If you know the story of Job, you know that if anyone had trouble knowing that God had a plan, it was him.
He had almost everything taken from him except his life; his children, his health, his property—all gone. He lamented the day of his birth.
Yet Job, this man going through extreme suffering, was able to trust God’s plan, even though he couldn’t see it. In Job 13:15, Job says, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him; yet I will argue my ways to His face.”
Although Job was by no means a perfect person, he was able to hope in God. Not because of his circumstances. Not because his life was all sunshine and rainbows.
But because he knew God, and that His ways are above man’s.
It’s okay to grapple with these issues. Wrestle with them. Pour out your heart to God over them.
Above all, though, remember what God has done, and Who He has been, in the past for you–and let the current testing of your faith produce steadfastness, even during the pain.
Your Faith Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect
I don’t know about you, but I’ve often wrestled with the idea of faith. I have questions. I have doubts. I have rebellious thoughts that sneak in and try to undermine the truth of God’s Word.
I don’t have perfect faith.
But as I grappled with that reality, my dad brought up a passage in Mark. In an early chapter in Mark, Jesus heals a boy with an unclean spirit who has been brought to Him. The boy’s father begs Jesus, asking Him, if He can, to help them. Chapter 9 verse 23 tells us, “And Jesus said to him, ‘If You can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
It would have been too easy to stop there. For me to balk and run at the idea of this faith, at what could have been perceived as Jesus asking for perfect faith. Yet this was not the case.
In verse 24, the boy’s father responds, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Since being shown this verse, I have uttered those words so many times. The realization that my faith doesn’t have to be perfect was a life-changing fact for me.
In my suffering, in my wrestling with panic attacks and spiritual attack, when there didn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, those words were an ever-present prayer for me.
Dear Christian struggling to have perfect faith, struggling to trust God, to see His plan when there doesn’t seem to be one–when the tears roll down your face and health problems steal your life–it’s okay. It’s okay to struggle with not seeing God’s plan. Often, we don’t, and we won’t see it.
Faith isn’t seeing, it is believing. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
You don’t have to see the plan; you can know that there is one. Because God is working, even when your heart is desperate for a whisper of hope.
Don’t consume yourself with attempts at having perfect faith. Faith raw and small as a mustard seed (see Matthew 17:20) can accomplish great things.
And even when the storms of your life threaten to break you in two, your imperfect, messy faith can keep you tethered to the God who never fails.
Have faith, friend, that God does have a beautiful plan unfolding before you.
Look Forward to the Hope of Heaven
Reflection is healthy, but trying to understand God’s ways is futile.
Instead of looking back at our past and the suffering we’ve been through, instead of analyzing our current circumstances for explanations, let’s choose to look forward to the hope of Heaven.
Romans 8:18 states, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Dear friend, when the tears roll down your face and the pain is so much to bear, when suffering blurs your vision, when the storms still lash down on you—remember that God is producing something good in you: steadfastness.
