I See it Clearly

I’m re-reading one of my favorite books:  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  It’s been many years since my first reading of this classic tale, yet as I delve deeper into it’s pages, I’m quickly reminded of why I find it so endearing.

Not yet to the sixth chapter, one paragraph made me think of how many times I have had the same thought as young Jane as she suffered greatly at the hands of her mean spirited aunt Reed.  “What a consternation of soul was mine that dreary afternoon!  How all my brain was in tumult,and all my heart in insurrection! Yet in what darkness, what dense ignorance, was the mental battle fought!  I could not answer the ceaseless inward question – why I thus suffered; now, at the distance of-I will not say how many years, I see it clearly.”

Young Jane was tormented by the question “Why”.  Why did she suffer so?  Why was she not loved more?  Why was she treated so badly?  Apparently, the answer did not come for many years – but it did indeed come.

So many times when we suffer, we’re prone to ask the same questions.  Why?  Why me?   Why am I treated so badly?  Why must I suffer so?  Like Jane’s, our answers don’t come easily or quickly.  But they do eventually come.  They might not come until years later, but when they do, we’ll see more clearly and understand more deeply.

Is this a season of suffering for you, my friend? Hang in there.  This too shall pass, and when it does, you’ll know why you were called to endure it.  Your character will be strengthened, your faith will be refined and your perspective on life will become more eternal.  One day, God will reveal the ‘why’ to you. And as He does, you will see it clearly.