Why Me Lord?

Illustration: James Dobson told of a television docudrama with three families, each of whom had been told one family member was dying of cancer. They showed the shock, the tears, the unbelief, the anger, the acceptance and the courage of the days and weeks that led to death.

The one he remembered most was a very humble black pastor of a small inner-city church. The pastor and his wife received the news of his illness calmly. They thanked the doctor for his honesty and kindness. In the car they joined hands, bowed their heads and recommitted themselves to the Lord.

The TV camera recorded his last sermon to his little church. He said, “Some have asked me if I’m mad at God, but I have only love for Him. God did not do this to me. We live in a world of suffering and sin and death. Our Lord suffered for our sins so why shouldn’t I share some of His suffering. I’m going to a better place where there are no tears, no suffering and no heartache.” Then Dobson said, he broke out in a song. Those were his last words to his people.

Folks, I cannot feel sadness for that man. I feel far more sadness for the healthy people: men, women, boys and girls, who sat in those pews, heard and saw such a testimony for God, and do not know the Lord.

One great ministry we can have as Christians, is to go to life’s unchurches sufferers, and talk to them about heaven. Maybe now, with all their trinkets gone, they will listen. We can lead them to Him who can not only give purpose in this life but healing in the next. We can tell the paralyzed man that when he gets to heaven, he will "run like a deer" (Isa. 35:6) for a thousand years,if he chooses. We can tell the blind they can see more glories of this universe than any astronaut.

The hope of heaven is not some "pie in the sky by and by" sentimentality; it is the only thing that makes this senseless planet of ours make any sense whatsoever.And is can be a wonderful evangelistic tool.

V. HURT CAN DRIVE US FROM GOD (Job. 2:9).

None of this is automatic. The blessings come for those who love God in spite of pain. Suffering can make us better but it can also make us bitter. It can drive us to God or build a wall between us and God. It can drive us inward to discover hidden strengths or to self pity. It can drive us to love and help people or to be jealous of their good fortune and to actually hate them for having what we do not have. Job’s wife, a sufferer too, who may have lost her faith, said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job. 2:9).

Matthew Henry catches her meaning, “Is this a God to be loved and served?” Mark Twain had little use for religion. When he told his daughter of a famous man he ate dinner with, she said, “Daddy. I’ll bet you know everybody but God.” His view of life proved it. He wrote that every year, millions who die, “scoff at the pitiful world and the useless universe and violent, contemptible human race.” Life’s sufferings, especially the death took his wife, drove him not just away from God, but against God. One of his last books was an attack upon Christianity. Twain wore his unbelief proudly; but beneath the pride was probably a lonely, broken heart. A poet puts it,