Not-so-disguised mercies

One of my favorite recent songs on Christian radio is Laura Story’s “Blessings”.   We pray for our desires, she says, but God loves us too much “to give us lesser things.”

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

You can listen to the entire song here.  If it brings tears to your eyes (as it does to mine), it is no doubt because you have faced, or are facing, trials in your life.  You understand what she means.

However, touching though the song is, I believe it could have taken us to an even deeper level.  Consider, for example, the “what ifs” of the song.  No doubt Laura is suggesting a truth with poetry rather than straightforwardly stating it.  “What if your healing comes through tears.”  However, the "what if" also suggests a doubt about the purpose and results of the trials.  I have many times heard Christians, including myself, say something like this:  “Maybe God is going to accomplish something is this situation.” 

I've thought about those “maybes” and I've decided that it is not merely a lack of faith that leads us to hedge in that way.  I think, rather, it is because we have so little understanding of what God intends to accomplish.  We have trouble imagining the “good” He has purposed for our trials. 

Certainly, many of God’s purposes are unclear to us.  We “see through a dark glass”, as Paul said. "His ways are not our ways," said Isaiah.  Nevertheless, the Bible has much to say about God's intentions.  His plans are not as obscure as we generally think them to be.  God tells us over and over that He intends to reward faithfulness and He offers many descriptions of those rewards.  Here is just one of His many promises to reward, from Proverbs and referenced in Romans 2 by Paul.   

Does not he who guards your life know it?   Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?  (Prov. 24:12)

So, we don’t have to say “what if” or “maybe”.  God's mercies are not as "disguised" as the song suggests and as we normally assume.  It can be said with certainty that God is going to reward (the same Hebrew word as "repay") you for faithfully enduring your pain and suffering.  No "maybe" about it!  

Those rewards have many descriptions in the Bible; but, for now, let this suffice:  God’s reward for faithfulness will be very, very good.  Pause and let that soak in.  You are earning something - this very moment - as you endure your painful circumstances with faith and hope in God.  

Now, that is a reason to rejoice!