God’s Way To Shape

July 21, 2024

Dr. Paul Cannings

In the movie “The Hiding Place,” a scene is set at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany. Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, Betsy, are there, along with ten thousand other women, in horrible, degrading, hideous conditions. They are gathered with some women in the barracks in the midst of the beds, cold, hungry, and lice-ridden; Betsy is leading a Bible class. Orieof, the other woman, calls out derisively from her bunk and mocks their worship of God. They fall into conversation, and this woman says what so frequently is flung at Christians: “If your God is such a good God, why does He allow this kind of suffering?”  Dramatically, she removes the bandages and old rags that bind her hands, displaying her broken, mangled fingers, and says, “I’m the first violinist of the symphony orchestra. Did your God will this?” For a moment, no one answers. Then Corrie Ten Boom steps to her sister’s side and says, “We can’t answer that question. All we know is that our God came to this earth and became one of us, and He suffered with us and was crucified and died. And that He did it for love.”

Someone once said, “A Christian is like a tea bag that is not much good until it has gone through hot water.” When we are mistreated for doing nothing wrong, the quality of our character is either exposed or shaped (Romans 5:1-5).

God states in the book of Job that Job is righteous; but amid Job’s trials, we truly learn about Job’s character and disposition. The same thing occurs with Joseph, who suffered for doing no wrong. We admire Joseph more for how he endured his trials than when he was the young dreamer his father loved—the same with Daniel. We may admire Daniel for his prayer life, but we admired his commitment to prayer more when he prayed, knowing he would experience persecution. Daniel’s Lion’s Den experience is repeated more than his dreams. This is because, during hard times, God either shapes our character or exposes the quality of the character Christ has developed in us to those around us. Peter says that we are blessed when we suffer for doing good (1 Peter 3:13-14).

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom 8:18-19; NASU)

When the storms of life are raging (Matthew 14:22-27), keep your eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:12-16).