God’s Point of View

Any study of the life of the apostle Paul needs a good look at the topic of agony. Explaining Paul’s words to the Romans, John Stott writes, “It is not just our frail body which makes me moan ; it’s also our fallen nature, which obstructs us from behaving as we should. Some Christians smile too much ( they appear to have no place in their religion for agony ) and moan too little.”. I wrote a whole book attesting that God’s folk need to smile more.

I simply believe there isn’t a need to attach an abiding Cheshire smile to our faces, lest we appear to be we are not living a winning Christian life.

If a fellow follower tells you he is going thru an especially hard time, I beg you not to insist he grin. ( I tell the people at the church not to ask me to hear one of my tapes on joy when they spot I am feeling down. ) Don’t urge folks to sing together with you on some tune you suspect they deserve to be singing. My need is to help prepare you for what life will inevitably sling across your trail. I understand you could be bearing a burden or heart ache, the likes of which I haven’t ever known.

You could be existing with pressures or some weakening physical illness or emotional discomfort I could not even start to imagine.

In just about 4 decades of pastoral ministry, I have regularly seen the proof of inner turmoil surface on the faces of Almighty God’s folk. In those times, when I feel at a total loss to offer encouragement, I’m most grateful for the Scriptures. In the Lord God’s Word we not only discover His will for our lives, we find words of real comfort for those times when life comes unglued.

So take care not to smile too much and groan not enough.