The photograph accompanying this post is the inspiration.
It is a picture that needs to be studied. I may have taken it almost anywhere in India, but I think it was Varanasi. Varanasi is a large city located in northeastern India in Uttar Pradesh. It sits on the east bank of the Ganges River and has an estimated population of 1.3 million. From what I could tell, they all lived within a hundred yards of the Ganges River. It’s like looking down into a bee hive.
All of India is different, but the city is different from all the other “different” I have experienced. One of the reasons is that it is one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism. It is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, going back more than 2500 years. In addition, it is a pilgrimage site for Buddhists. It is where Buda preached his first sermon. From my Christian view of the world, it is the darkest feeling city I have ever visited.
Someone from Varanasi with a Hindu mindset visiting New York City, maybe even my beloved Nashville, might say the same thing about it. Of course, having been to NYC, I might agree. But, to say the least, Varanasi has caused a shift in my thinking about the world, my place in it, and the need for Truth.
Back to the picture. What do you see? A poor man was pushing a grossly overloaded tricycle down the street. The load appears to be too heavy to peddle. And with more weight than one man should carry. The smog he has to breathe. His face cannot be clearly seen, but to me, he is not joyously singing, “hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go.” Finally, did you notice that he was going in the opposite direction from the traffic flow?
There have been long seasons of my life when that picture is a picture of me. My burden was more than I could bear; the air I breathed was stifling, and I was moving against the traffic of fulfilling my dreams. Everything just felt “against.”
Why would God let me suffer so? Why did life have to be so exhaustingly difficult? Why doesn’t God come and help me, or better, take the load from me?
I had a profound personal crisis when these questions bounced about in my bewildered spirit. I had no answers. Could I find no relief? No friend could touch where I was hurting. The religion I was preaching about on Sundays and representing during the week was less than satisfying. There were moments when I thought my religion was the cause.
The fact is that that is precisely what was the problem, my religion. The deep dark valley of death I was in was God forcing me to see just how far I was from realizing His constant abiding. But unfortunately, it was not a lesson I learned quickly. The truth is, I am still in the classroom of learning dependence.
Life doesn’t have the lows it used to have, neither the depth of spirit nor frequency of occurrence. Still, I desire to know and rely on the truth about His recreating His children living outside the Garden.
This developing attitude does not remove any of life’s challenges. However, this view and hope make more sense of why God allows us to experience the hard times.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)
I have heard some readers so not get the picture
Baldwin Heirlooms 