To Think About

We tend to look at the circumstances of life in terms of what they may do to our cherished hopes and convenience, and we shape our decisions and reactions accordingly. When a problem threatens, we rush to God, not to seek his perspective, but to ask him to deflect the trouble. Our self-concern takes priority over whatever it is that God might be trying to do through the trouble….
An escapist generation reads security, prosperity, and physical well-being as evidences of God’s blessing. Thus when he puts suffering and affliction into our hands, we misread his signals and misinterpret his intentions.

This is from Arthur Mathews who was a missionary in China and lived under house arrest for four years.