This commercial cracks me up! The daughter is THRILLED with her first car — and then it gets CRUSHED by a monster of some kind! I’ve reproduced the picture of that event below.
Let’s face it — no matter how much insurance you have, it won’t cover all the tragedies and calamities that can befall you in life.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so glad to be a believer in Jesus. He has not promised to save us from robbers, thieves, or monsters.
Some Christians suppose that a relationship with Jesus gets them a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, guarantees them a happy and pain-free life, and removes all actual and potential threats from their zip code. That supposition is a lie and comes from the pit.
Here’s how J.B. Phillips put it:
“Frankly, I do not know who started the idea that if men serve God and 
live their lives to please him then he will protect them by special intervention from pain, suffering, misfortune, and the persecution of evil men. We need look no further than the recorded life of Jesus Christ himself to see that even the most perfect human life does not secure such divine protection. It seems to me that a great deal of misunderstanding and mental suffering could be avoided if this erroneous idea were exposed and abandoned. . . . The idea that if a man pleases God then God will especially shield him, belongs to the dim twilight of religion and not to Christianity at all.” (J.B. Phillips, God Our Contemporary)
Questions:
1. “What you don’t know can hurt you.” Isn’t it true that what we do know can also hurt us? Can you think of one example?
2. Living in a work of hurt, would you agree with the statement by Pastor Stephen Brown that “Sometimes we can serve God better with our wounds than with our wellness?” Why or why not?
Dr. Larry Dixon
larrydixon.wordpress.com 