Anxiety and Help

When I travel away from home, I often still attend church by visiting a church near my destination. It’s always been a good experience of getting a different perspective, but there was one time when I was so distracted that I couldn’t focus on the sermon.

It wasn’t because every wall and ceiling of the church building was adorned with art, even though it was. It wasn’t even because the preacher was speaking in a language that was foreign to me, even though he was. Instead, I was distracted by the thoughts in my own head. I wondered why I had a slightly deformed spine. I wondered why I had to deal with all the health problems I had. If I was just a bit more normal, I wouldn’t have to deal with so much pain. I spent the sermon asking God why.

When the service ended, I exited through a side door that led to the church’s belltower. I wonder if the builder of that tower also asked God why he couldn’t be as normal as the other architects. He tried building a normal belltower, but as he added more levels, he noticed that the tower started tilting. The ground was too soft to support such a tall structure, but he was still obligated to finish. After the blundering bell tower’s completion, the architect chose to remain anonymous out of embarrassment.

Little did he know that over the next nine hundred years, millions of visitors would come to this little town just to see the uniquity of this belltower. I figured that if God had a plan for the accidental Leaning Tower of Pisa, then He also has a plan for my imperfections. • Jessica Lippe

• Why do you think God allows people to have imperfections?

• Because we live in a world broken by sin, we all have imperfections and hardships—some more obvious than others. God cares about our suffering so much that He sent Jesus to live among us, give His life for ours, and be raised from the dead. Now, if we’ve put our trust in Him, He is with us in the midst of our sufferings through the Holy Spirit. One day, when Jesus returns, He will make all things well and new! How might this sure hope give you comfort?

• Have you ever asked God why you have a specific struggle in your life? Sometimes God shows us a reason, and other times He provides comfort and hope through His presence with us. Who has God brought into your life who you can talk to about this struggle?

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)

Read Verses:

1 Corinthians 12:20-27; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4