I was sitting on a bench enjoying the company of my bride, the warmth of sunlight, the taste of coffee and the passing of Christmas shoppers. I was reading from a "throw-down" in the book of James. Before all that started, I sat next to a grandma type and considered giving her my Bible. I did a heart check. It seemed this one was not getting a Bible. She left and my bride came back having bagged her game.
I am reading James many times currently. It is a letter to his friends. I think it pretty cool to read a personal letter. It is unlikely James would lie to his brothers and sisters of grace. That has a nice sound to it: Brothers and Sisters of Grace. I think that will describe people of Fresh Connection.
James talks about tests and trials are like gifts from God. He then goes on to say gifts are like rivers of light flowing down from the heavens. It would seem you can conclude that tests and trials (ie suffering) can be like rivers of light flowing down from the heavens. Interesting. This brings me to the question, "Does suffering have to hurt?"
Sometimes taking an idea to the extreme helps me understand a question better. I have read although never experience it, that martyrs going through extreme torture have told how they were outside their body watching the torture take place. I assume the pain of the torture stayed with the body and this was God's intervention. So somewhere between the pain of someone of being "bad mouthed" and someone pulling my fingernails out lies the answer to the question.
"Does suffering have to hurt?" I don't know... the bajanpoet wants to know.
Surf to: http://www.freshc.org for a Fresh Connection...
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