My friend, Chris, often reminds me that the focus of our message is the Gospel, not a million other things. I was reminded of that recently when I listened to what was being discussed in a class.
In an age in which "self" has become the focus of life and people actually believe one can create his own reality, even Christians have moved far away from a God-focused faith.
It seems good to us to be able to find an application to our lives. However, our applications often leave God completely out of the picture in our attempt to make the message "relevant" to ourselves.
Isaiah 53 reminds us: "all we like sheep have gone astray and everyone has turned to his own way..." Man's basic problem is sin which results in a fascination with self rather than God. Thus, we read Scripture in order to find something about ourselves, remodeling our lives, seeking quit fixes and secrets to getting through life's mess without much pain. What's missing? We do not see the One who has redeemed us and who alone can transform us. For this to take place, we must be fascinated with Him. Christians see everything as part of God's work in our lives. Yes, even the pain may come as part of His lesson for our life. Yet, the issue is, as Warren Wiersbe notes, not about why we suffer but whether or not our God is worthy of our suffering.
ALL glory belongs to Him. We are but servants, purchased by the shed blood of Christ. That ought to be enough.