1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian The Colours of Grace - Week 2 | Page 7

to any human being, have fed their ego and led to the temptation of pride. Paul,
therefore, speaks of a “thorn in the flesh” that God gave to him in order to keep him
humble. We are not sure what this “thorn” was, some theologians have thought it might
be poor eyesight or even depression, but whatever it was it was sent from God. This
picture of God inflicting pain upon an individual whom He loves is one that can lead us
to confusion. In our modern day “feel-good” theology, we do not have much room for
this kind of God, and yet Scripture is absolutely clear that God uses pain and suffering
as a tool to keep us humble.
Proverbs 6 v 16 – 17 says, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are
detestable to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood. A
heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush to evil, a false witness
who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers…” Please
NOTE which thing tops the list: a proud look. God has forever spoken against pride.
He speaks of it as being the sin that got Satan removed from heaven, i.e. when Lucifer
saw how beautiful he was, he thought that he was better than he was. It was his pride
that God could take no longer [Isaiah 14 v 12 – 17].
Another powerful example that we find in Scripture is the example of Nebuchadnezzar
[Daniel 4 v 4 – 18]. Nebuchadnezzar stood upon his rooftop and surveyed the wonder
of the city of Babylon and declared to himself, “Wow! Look what I have done!” his pride
at what he had thought that he personally had achieved was a slap in the face of God
and he therefore paid the price.
In the context of our human thinking we tend to think of suffering in a negative light.
When I read the Bible I am aware that things are not always as they appear to be. If
suffering will keep us humble and humility is key to effectiveness for God, then
suffering has to be a good thing for us if God deems it necessary. Some of the most
godly people I know are people who “walk with a limp”. It is as a result of this limp that
God has been able to use them far more mightily than if they walked without it. At the
end of time when we stand before God, there will be certain credits given to certain
people, but please remember that this is just credit, because we all know that as much
as man may receive some credit, God must always receive the Glory.
Prayer Thought: Won’t you take a trip down memory lane today and look back on
some of the suffering that you may have had to endure, and see if what we haven’t
said in today’s devotion is not true. People of character are never people who have
lived perfect lives, but are people who have had to suffer and their greatest attribute is
not what they have done, but the attribute of humility in all that they have done. It is
this attitude that wins the favour of God.

SATURDAY
1 Timothy 1 v 12 – 19
The question I would like to deal with today is the question: What do we do when we
go through a period of suffering?