Sunburn

Often people associate God with light, and use the sun to illustrate how he illuminates the world with his glory (It's a good pun on Jesus as the "son/sun" too). But, I just wanted to ask, what about sunburn?

There are other things in nature that are good, but have negative effects on our lives too. Rain helps plants grow, but it's annoying when your iPod gets wet. All animals are God's creation, but I don't want to risk my life trying to befriend a lion. Volcanoes help nurture the soil, floods help spread nutrients across the land, and some plants need the heat from bushfires to survive, but all these events do serious damage to human lives.

I've probably got you thinking, but in reality, I can't offer you any answers to these problems. I just got home today, sunburnt, and wondered, "Why am I in pain from God's blessings?".

I've been blessed enough to have suffered little so far in my life, which puts me in a tricky situation when trying to explore what it means to suffer from God's creation. I'm sunburnt, but there are people out there who have lost houses, lost lives, lost everything because of nature.

You might have noticed, but when I don't understand something, or feel I'm out of my depth, I go back to the simple things. I don't know the answers, but what I do know is this.

Jesus said, "God blesses those who grieve, for they shall be comforted."

Jesus acknowledges that people will suffer, but he blesses them, he is with them, and no matter how long it takes, even if it may not be during their life on earth, he will make sure they are comforted. Isn't that an encouraging thought?