Skip to main content

Why Am I Suffering? by Zoe Bastardi

This question and others like it have been on my mind in recent months. My life has gone through so many changes this past year that it feels like I’m on one big roller coaster. When I feel as though I’ve mastered the ride, there’s suddenly a big drop out of nowhere (I haven’t actually been on a roller coaster, but I’m just guessing what it feels like). COVID-19, issues of racial injustice worldwide, injury, broken relationships, the list goes on. I was starting to wonder where God is in all of this.

My parents got me into the The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble at the beginning of this year. I had tried other bible reading plans in the past, but I always found it hard to digest what I was reading. Soon, I was starting the book of Job and listening to the corresponding podcasts and I was like, “Wow, my suffering isn’t on this level, but I can relate to you Job.” God had declared him righteous and blameless in His sight, yet allowed him to be tested by Satan. 

Job was going through it and his friends weren’t helping.

I wanted to understand why God allows us to suffer, but the book of Job doesn’t get to that. I learned that God doesn’t need to justify how He operates the universe, but He is a just God and works according to His own just will. We simply can’t tell Him what the correct definition of justice is because of our incredibly small perspective. It was comforting to me to know that while God allows us to suffer in the already and the not yet, He is in control and He is still with us. I needed the reminder that He is intentional. God wants us to be honest with Him in prayer and trust in His judgement. Let me say humbly as Job said in Job 1:22, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”


Comments

  1. Zoe!!! Wow. What a beautiful, wise offering. Praise God for your continued growing faith and may it increase more and more. Love, Mrs Thompson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zoe, what a beautiful gift you have given us in your thoughts and prayers and how God has been been speaking to you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "God doesn't need to justify how he operates..." Wow! That is a profound truth. He is right because He is God. Thank you for this reminder sister.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Racism is sin. Let's treat it that way." by Sam Vaughn

Racism is sin . People are sinners. I am a person. I am a sinner. I am stained by the sin of racism. I commit the sin of racism. I omit the righteous deeds that undo and push back the sin of racism. I have stayed silent when it benefited me, rather than speaking when it would have benefited my brothers and sisters of color. I have defaulted to judgment rather than sorrow, when an unarmed Black person is shot to death. I remember when Michael Brown was shot and killed, watching the news coverage, the first thing I focused on was what he ‘must have done to cause it.’ I sought for a flaw in Michael Brown’s character as if that should be worthy of death. I engaged with other nationally covered events in a similar way. Embracing a narrative that made me comfortable was functionally more important to me than the God-given lives of image bearers like Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. I have been indifferent, and uncaring. Over the past year I have ignored the increase in violent hate crimes agains

The ARC of Racial Justice - a Reflection and Exhortation from Pastor Matt Lorish

Here we are again. The video footage of Ahmaud Arbery is all over social media. It is a time for lament and a time for righteous anger. I write this blog post as a continuation to the initial posts offered by Northside Church members. My aim in this post is to help my fellow white brothers and sisters think about where we go from here. At the close of Jemar Tisby’s book, The Color of Compromise , he introduces a framework that he calls the A.R.C. of racial justice. Using Jemar’s framework, I’d like to humbly offer some application points that I think are important for me and my fellow white sisters and brothers at Northside Church to move towards. I also write this as a Christian pastor. Christians of all ethnicities are Bible people. The end-game for us isn’t just racial justice. The end-game for us is conformity to Jesus and honoring Him. Racial injustice is one of the areas in which we need God’s Spirit to change us, grow us and conform us (Rom 12:2, 2 Cor 3:18). My prayer is

Manna for the Moment

At Northside Church of Richmond, we desire earnestly to be joyful worshipers, nurturing family, and engaged neighbors always, and we are seeking ways to spur us on towards those things creatively right now. One way we're trying is by creating a space where we can interact and be nourished, encouraged, and connected to one another to keep pointing each other to God's Truths to steady us, to shape us, and to send us out in His ways. Be on the lookout for devotional writings with meditations on God's Word, videos of encouragement, and other creative offerings from our church body. Reach out to Adrianne Thompson with questions or comments: adriannevthompson@gmail.com