Suffering

I only missed three after-meal wash-ups but somehow the line-up of scum-stuck, smeared and half-scraped dishes managed to turn two counter-top corners, fill the sink, and even cover the greasy stovetop. 

Suffering.

Tonight I suffered through two hours of dish-washing-while-parenting. 

Why do we suffer?

I don't know. But, after another two hours {this time not suffering} with my nose stuck in my Bible, I've emerged with a little wisdom on the subject. I want to give it to you as it came to me, so that you may find the truth for yourself and go to your own Bible to seek further proof, insight and questions. 

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after the wind.

Psalm 32:7

You are a hiding place for me;

you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Psalm 119:143

Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.

2 Corinthians 4:17

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:13

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Hebrews 12:15

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

1 Peter 2:16

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Romans 6:22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 

What are you a slave to? 

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