First, I just want to apologize for the long gap between entries. I’m hoping to do some catching up in the next week or so before getting back on schedule.
A couple of weeks ago, we were discussing suffering in one of my other courses. My professor made the statement, “We can’t really understand God until we understand brokenness” (L. Withrow). What she meant by this is that a person cannot truly understand God, Jesus, Christianity, etc. without having personally experienced or witnessed true suffering.
A couple of weeks ago, we were discussing suffering in one of my other courses. My professor made the statement, “We can’t really understand God until we understand brokenness” (L. Withrow). What she meant by this is that a person cannot truly understand God, Jesus, Christianity, etc. without having personally experienced or witnessed true suffering.
Wow.
I’ve been wrestling with this concept ever since. As a person who hasn’t really experienced or witnessed true brokenness, does this mean that I don’t fully understand? Is that okay? Most likely, one day, I will have experienced or witnessed the brokenness that my professor was talking about. I’m not sure if I should be celebrating or dreading this. In the meantime, all I can do is try to learn from those who have learned from suffering. John Wesley should certainly be among those people.
If anyone understood suffering in England during the 18th century, it was John Wesley. He not only suffered himself (his family was always relatively poor, and the parsonage where his family lived burned when he was younger), but he definitely witnessed suffering. He saw the deplorable conditions in the cities that people had to endure. He understood the strenuous, bone-aching, brain-numbing jobs people had. He visited people who were in debtor’s prison. He also visited the sick. He understood the gospel of Jesus to be one of hope, healing, comfort, forgiveness, and grace. It stands to reason that we’d have a lot to learn from such a man.
