READ: Genesis 17:10-12, 23
“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” – 1 John 5:19
When you walk with God, He will ask you to do things that may be painful. He asked Abraham to circumcise himself and his whole family. The pain he experienced was private pain. To walk with God you must know pain! You will know pain if you are a man of faith. As a man of faith, you will know private suffering. It is part of the walk of faith.
Why is that? Most of our world is in pain and difficulty. This world has fallen into the hands of satan. Satan is the god of this world and most people under his domain are in difficulty.
Even in America, where you would think that people are having a good time, many people are suffering. I recently heard that 76% of Americans do not have a spare one thousand dollars to repair their cars if it got spoilt.That is a very high percentage of the people in the wealthiest country in the world. In America today, there are lots of unsolved murders, killings and terror attacks everywhere. If this is what is happening in the richest country in the world, how much more other nations where there is so much more difficulty? What I am trying to say is that there is pain and suffering in the world. The whole world lies in wickedness!
To have God’s heart is to see the pain and understand the suffering in our world. Most people do not have it easy at all. God often allows His servants to experience some of that pain so that they are filled with compassion and understanding for the weaknesses and failings in the world. Hardly do you find anyone serving the Lord without pain.