Abs of Steel - When a Coincidence Becomes a Providence

I would much rather learn what’s God’s favorite flavor of ice-cream, or His favorite movie, or book… wait, I think I already know the answer to the last question!  But His favorite way of...  suffering?!!! This cuts deep – deeper even than our most profound sense of justice and rightness, fairness and equity.  In fact, it seems to go right smack against it. And that’s why it hurts so much, why it kills to suffer unjustly and do nothing about it, and watch God do nothing about it. It seems to tolerate, condone, even encourage and perpetuate the very injustice, the wrong everything inside us revolts against.

But, there is that little phrase… if for the sake of conscience toward God… This is not between the wrong or the wrongdoer and me.  This is between me – my conscience – and God.  Do I trust God be God, let God be God or do I decide He needs my help, take things into my own hands and execute justice according to my insufficient at best, crooked at worst measuring rod. 

If I choose to respond rather than react, fueled not by my justice-instinct but by Jesus Christ Himself and His Living Word… if I surrender to His good, and acceptable and perfect will – and embrace patience over impatience, endurance over quitting… something awesome might come out of something awful, and I may even get the loggia seat on it.

So I begin wonder if this freak toll-booth malfunction could be, instead of a sheer coincidence, a hiccup on the Sunpass flawless toll-collection system, in fact a carefully choreographed opportunity which I can choose to take or ignore, embrace or rationalize away. An opportunity to listen and obey the Voice.  An invitation to a celestial gym to work out my flabby faith muscles into solid abs of steel of patient endurance…

And what if this word about favored suffering is only a seed… a tiny seed which, if received and nurtured, loved and cared for, would one day produce an abundant harvest of love instead of hate, grace and mercy instead of retribution, forgiveness instead of retaliation, humility rather than pride…joy instead of ...suffering?