"When a People Groan"

Some years ago, I was at a national religious conference, and they had a big exhibit hall—a lot of booths and so forth. And I went around just introducing myself to people and meeting them. I met this one fellow at this booth, a big fellow, and I asked him, I said, What do you guys do? And he thundered out, apologetics. Not so much as a how do you do or here's what's my name or here's my name or anything else.

No formal greeting. Just boom that out. You know, my curiosity overrode my good sense.

It happens. And I politely asked him, What would you say to someone who suffers? And he thundered, God's sovereign. And he had me by five inches and 50 pounds.

Big fella. And I looked up at him. I just, again, calmly stayed.

And I'm sure that would have been very comforting to Uriah's parents. And he just stared at me for a few moments, snapped his mouth shut and walked away. Now, maybe my bravado was enhanced by the fact that I'd recently earned a black belt. And I was pretty sure I could outrun this fella. But I wasn't trying to pick a fight or anything with the fella.

I just was talking. But I heard that bombastic dogma come out of him. And it just struck home with a lot of things with me.

I've been a caregiver for 35 years for a wife with severe disabilities. And I've heard this kind of stuff over and over and over again. Way too many times. For those who may not remember, Uriah was the soldier who was very loyal to King David. And King David ended up sleeping with his wife while Uriah was at battle, got her pregnant and then had Uriah killed so that he could marry his wife. Pretty painful chapter, several chapters in scripture, pretty painful episode. And so when I hear people say these things with such misplaced authority, I think sometimes it comes across so harsh, it reminds me of all the things that I've heard and so many other caregivers here. If you had enough faith, God doesn't put more on you than you can handle, which is not even scriptural. God's sovereign. Those and similar comments seem to lead to greater speculation on how God views suffering, pain, loss and injustice. In a recent conversation with someone, we talked about the political turmoil in our country and the remark was made, God doesn't like injustice and won't stand for it. Well, Proverbs 21, 15 is one of many scriptures back that up, which says what justice has done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to the evildoers. The scripture assures us that evildoers will experience the terror of justice. But that statement also uncomfortably implies the occurrence of injustice. Furthermore, there remains an unspecified time frame regarding the duration of that injustice before justice is meted out. The unsettling reality is that virtually the entirety of scripture and history reveals horrific injustices, some lasting for generations. Proverbs 29, 2 says, when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

Today, people are groaning, individuals, families, communities, even the nation. Several years ago, a close pastor friend of mine called me after burying his dog. He shared that while digging the grave, he wept and angrily reflected on how much he hated death. In his nearly 40 years of ministry, he's provided presided over countless funerals. I played the piano for many of those funerals with him and we discussed those services and how much we both hate death. Then he said something that never left me. He said, you know who hates death more? He said, God hates death.

After a long pause, he added he hates it so much that he took it upon himself to provide a way to conquer death once and for all. You know, injustice runs rampant in this world. Watching the evening broadcast of angry talking heads, we often feel agitated rather than educated. And we groan while observing people in authority reveling in injustice. I hate injustice.

You know who hates injustice more? God hates injustice so much that he became flesh and traveled to the cross to take upon himself the full penalty for injustice. He did that to spare us from what the evildoers will face with terror. It can be said to people who suffer and groan. The apologetics man at the convention offered blunt force truth.

He wasn't wrong. God is indeed sovereign. In my experience, however, I've discovered that truth without compassion often presents as callous and judgmental. When we see ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, and even our nation groaning under injustice, some may thunder out God's suffering. In those moments, however, may we instead state with deep conviction and often through tears that there's one who groans about injustice and suffering on our behalf. And he will one day make all things new.

C.S. Lewis touched on this a little bit in the Chronicles of Narnia, the line the witch in the wardrobe. When Mr. Beaver was talking to Susan, Mr. Beaver said, Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion.

Oh, said Susan, I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good. He's the king, I tell you.

He's wild, you know, not like a tame lion. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you? I have. I'm Gracie Rosenberger. And in 1983, I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated. I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me.

But over time, my questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God. That understanding, along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs, led me to establish Standing with Hope. For more than a dozen years, we've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people. On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies.

And with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up. That's standingwithhope.com.

I'm Gracie, and I am standing with hope. You can't buy his pillows at Kohl's anymore. You can't get them on Amazon or you can't get them at Costco.

They're attempting to close his business because he stood up for kingdom values. What a chance to respond, especially if you need a pillow. Oh, I've had mine now for years and years and years and still fluffs up as wonderful as ever. Queen size pillows are just $29.98. Be sure and use the promo code TRUTH or call 1-800-944-5396. That's 1-800-944-5396. Use the promo code TRUTH for values on any MyPillow product to support truth.