2 Corinthians 12:7–10(KJV 1900) — 7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Most people who identify as Christians would all tell you that they believe God is Sovereign.....I'd guess 99% of them would say so, and I also know that most of them probably don't understand the true meaning and/or implications of the Sovereignty of God.....I truly found peace that passes all understanding with my life and this world when I totally understood this concept which is proper/orthodox theology.....CS Lewis wrote a book once titled "The Problem with Pain" and I admit right off the bat I haven't read the whole thing, but I know that he addresses the issue of the Sovereignty of God and suffering in this world....Here is the issue at hand:  we all believe God is Sovereign...in other words we would agree that God is in control of everything in this world....the world and everything in it is His creation and He has the absolute right to do with His creation as He sees fit.....If you don't believe that then listen to my paraphrase of RC Sprouls analogy:  God is in control and there CANNOT be one rogue molecule in this world that isn't in His control....because if there was, the entire world would have already been destroyed by now....in other words  we might put it like this: if Satan were sovereign, this world as we know it would have been destroyed millennia ago....so now accept this fact, God is in control! Now answer this question without a hiccup: what does it mean when bad things happen?? We have had another incident this morning in California where a crazy gunman started shooting up a night club in California.....that is horrible, many people perished....the Jewish synagogue got shot up a few weeks back....another horrible incident where multiple people perished.....we just said that God is in control!! how do we reconcile the fact that God is in control and yet there is pain and suffering in this world?? Therein lies the "Problem with Pain"....

I will continue this discussion tomorrow....in the meantime, remember something....the Scripture I posted at the top....Paul realized his personal pain and suffering were under the sovereignty of God....God allowed Satan to afflict him to keep him humble....GOD ALLOWED IT!! And Paul found out that the grace of God is always sufficient!! In fact Paul learned to enjoy suffering in a sense, in order to experience the mighty power of God to make him strong!  So remember no matter what the situation....God will never allow us to be put through anything we cannot handle, with His help! The devil has no power or ability except that the Lord allows and it will always have a purpose in the end: to glorify God! Until next time, God bless your day!! 

Pastor Scott