Check the Lining

Are we enveloped in our own "sufferings" or "misfortunes" and wonder why have God left us out in His big plans? Why do others always seems to have it better than ourselves? Why do others have bigger houses? Nicer cars? Fatter pay checks?

These are some of the "grivences" that I've heard when i'm talking to quite a few folks over the past week.

Many years ago, a very dear friend gave me a book called Cover to Cover through the bible as it happened. I was eager to read and find out what does the bible hold, what were the stories that got so many people talking. I took a leap into it, but I did not even make it through the first month!

Because I got stuck. Really stuck at Job's experience. For a very devoted man, Job placed his trust in God completely. But the evil one challenged Job's faith and trust in the Lord and took away Job's family, wealth, assets, gave him illness and a bunch of friends who do not seems to understand Job's faith and kept jeering at his "God" who allowed Job to suffer and turned a deaf ear to Job's pain and prayers and calls for answers.

I got stuck because I was also going through a pretty rough patch myself, it was the time when I had my first series of operations and did not understand why do I have to lose an ovary to an inexperience surgeon? The months that followed went by without a single day of me asking WHY God, I did not kill anyone or burn a house down, why do I have to go through such pain and loss?

I shared so much of Job's pain and confusion at our helplessness with the battles that kept charging in our faces. I failed to understand the true meaning of Job's suffering. I just focused on his suffering and injustice.

One reading which I came across recently, gave me the insight, the understanding that I seek, here I share it with you.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
the Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shalll I be afraid?
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;
He will lift me high on a rock.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27:1,5,13-14

George Whitefield, an 18th century evangelist, was once robbed in a way that spoke of the goodness of God. Stephen Mansfield related this story in Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield.

Whitefield and another man were riding by horseback to a meeting when a robber accosted them and demanded all their money. They gave it to him, he left, and they continued on their journey. A few moments later, the robber returned and demanded Whitefield's coat, saying, "its better than mine." Once again, the preacher did as he was told. He exchanged his coat for the robber's, and again the robber left.

As they continued on, the men looked behind them, only to see the robber riding towards them again at a full gallop. Enough is enough, they thought, and the two spurred their horses on and reached the next town safely before the robber caught up with them.

Later, they wondered why the thief had pursused them a third time. But when Whitefield felt the lining of the thief's coat, he found the answer. Inside was a purse with much more money in it than the thief had stolen from them. Whitefield used the money for the orphans he supported in Georgia.

Sometimes you can't see God's goodness until you stop and look back. What doesn't appear at first to be his goodness can one day prove to be just that.

Of what do you feel you've been robbed? Your health? Your career? Perhaps your children have been taken from you. Perhaps someone has robbed you of your reputation by telling lies in an effort to destroy you. We can be robbed of a hundred different things, some not so painful, others so painful that all we can do is to silently scream inside.

But God in his providence is caring for you. Somewhere in the coat of circumstances, hidden in the lining, is the wealth of God's goodness. You can't see it now. You may not even be able to feel it. But it's there. God's goodness is always there. And his provisions is always on time. - Steve Farrar (6th Oct 2006 Our Journey, RBC)

The next time you have doubts about God's goodness, shout out " I believe in the goodness of God despite my circumstances!"

moments