Disenchantment as a Way to Deliverance

Sometimes, life can really suck. When the Bible says "All creation groans" it is not because of rapturous joy. Instead, Jesus compares the fallen world to a woman giving birth. Lots of pain, but joy in the end when the baby is delivered. Then more pain when the child acts selfishly, rebelliously, and ungratefully. There is a better world coming...until then, life sometimes can be like the film Deliverance.

We often expect the world to be a better place because we can imagine it as a better place, but this is usually defined fairly selfishly. I have more fun, more satisfaction, more joy. The poor sucker over there? Too bad. I am convinced that pain will either produce a deep compassion in people or a hardening of the soul. The experience of the pain is only the mechanism. The heart, mind, and soul decide what to do with it.

How can we say something like this when people are really suffering, even supermodels? Is it not harsh to tell people to get a stiff upper lip and make the best of the trip down life's river? Yes, it is. Compassion is a universally acceptable response to all trials and tribulations. Harsh words, like acid, just corrode. Even if deserved. Here is what seems to be the way to spiritually safe shores. Find in our pain, a purpose of redemption. If you suffer in a particular area, chances are others do too. Find a way to reach out to others in the river and pull them out with Christ as your hope.

The only other option is to drown in your sorrow. Despite the adage that "Misery loves company" is it really the company that we want to keep in the canoe or in the drink?

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