It's Not About Me

Our small group has been reading the book by Max Lucado "It's not about Me". There's a chapter in it about how our suffering is not about us, but about God. At first read, it's a pretty alien concept. Our pain, our circumstances are for God's glory. But what is so glorious about a crippled child?

I guess the answer to that lies in how we approach our lives. Do we get bogged down in the here and now, or do we think "Big Picture". In order for this to make sense, God must use a different value system than ours. In my "everyday" view of the world, there are so many things that simply cannot make sense for there to be a loving, powerful God. There is war, famine, disease, tsunamis, and sick children. How can that pain and suffering possibly be worth it? What possible glory can there be for God in a disabled child?

I think the key is that the things that we all take for granted as being important - health, safety, comfortable shoes, and even life itself have a different value in God's world. His values centre around a relationship with him. What our physical circumstances are on earth are of secondary importance. His view is eternal, and as a result, is completely different from ours. From time to time, I get a glimpse of this view. It radically changes my attitude and mood, and is extremely freeing. In these moments it is well with my soul. Pray that I would be able to extend the amount of time I live with this view. It might be the key to everything.