Closer To God Through Suffering

God has many ways of bringing individuals into close communion with Him. He puts it on the heart of His servants to follow His lead in reaching out to people, and in breaking new ground for His Word to be harvested. This is how our ministry got underway.
My main desire is to put people in touch with God so that they will come to know and trust Him in a new and living way. I believe this is the cure for a dull routine Christian experience. Whenever I speak or write an article, foremost in my heart is the hope that those who hear will become more intimate with the Father, and respond in obedience to His Will. Month after month, through our newsletters and Partner's messages, God offers fresh insights into His abundant grace, mercy and peace. And because God put this great need on our heart, we depend on Him to reveal His Word to us. This is proving to make our relationship with Him more vital and wholesome. We are discovering that the better we know God through the Word, the easier it is to trust Him, especially when circumstances aren't quite ideal.
Another way God brings us closer to Him is through suffering. Suffering isn't popular, and if I had a choice I would rather avoid it. However, when it finds it's way into my life as it always does, then I find through it a new way to lean on God.
Sometimes things are going fairly smooth. Then suddenly, sometimes unannounced, unexpected tragedy happens leaving us feeling helpless and stunned. And oh, how it hurts.
Occasionally a few church folks come along. They have the gift of criticism, and feel led to tell you where you went wrong and how you are the cause of the whole ordeal because you disobeyed God somewhere. They don't understand anything, they talk way too much, and they make you sick. All they know are religious lies that can never bring relief or comfort to a hurting heart. Job spoke of his friends as "forgers of lies" and "physicians of no value" when their counsel only intensified his pain.
When times are tough, we desire to hear from God, to feel His presence, to know His comfort. Our worship of Him needs to be so deep and intimate that the voice of all others are silenced. There we can say, "I'm alone with you Lord, just you and me, and everything is all right."
You may have already felt the blunt blow of suffering. I care a lot about whatever you're going through, and God does too. The sting of suffering cannot be denied, and I cannot fully explain the mystery of it. But I do know that we are not alone in our struggles. We have a High Priest who is touched by the feeling of our infirmities Hebrews 4:15. Just knowing that He is there and He cares is enough to fill our heart with confidence and relief.