Good Friday...

One of my favorite Christian jokes:

A man complained to a pastor: "How can you call it Good Friday when Christ was crucified and died?"

The paster nodded: "If He had stayed dead, it wouldn't be good."

When I hear people give me the cliche lines about being faithful and God will protect you, all I can think is: This is the same God who allowed Job to be tested, Jonah swallowed by a whale, the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, Lazarus to die, and Jesus, His Beloved Son, to suffer in Gethsemane and die on the cross. What makes me so special I would be spared trials and suffering?

It seems to me that being special in God's eyes means I'm going to endure some tough experiences. The question is: Am I willing?

God never promised to spare us from pain. What He did promise is: I will always be with you.

So why bother being faithful? It's a lot easier for me to be receptive to His inspiration if I'm listening to begin with, as opposed to requiring Him to use a 2x4 to get my attention.