Written by Mrs. Pam Smith Friday, 02 March 2012 14:13

Chris Drager earned his Master of Divinity from Biblical Seminary in 2004. On his LinkedIn account, he summarized his vocation as teaching Upper School World History from a Christian Worldview and with a Classical Methodology.  Doesn’t that sound like a great job?

Chris was also a husband, a father, and an artist. In fact we have one of his artistic creations in the hallway at Biblical. The path God had for him was not one that any of us would ask for. His cancer that started while he was a student here at Biblical returned five times, yet his love for his savior never left him.

In 2005 I had the privilege of hearing Chris talk about living a life when the path isn’t so great.  I saved a portion of his presentation and I share it in honor of his passing to glory on March 1, 2012.

But, if the Lord chooses a different path for us - one of great difficulty, He is still good. He promises that for those who love Him and are called by His grace, all things (even great suffering) are for an ultimate good. The Lord is too kind and loving to harm His children. Although He may allow difficulty and pain and suffering, He promises that it is for our growth and maturity and for our witness to the world around us.

He is not content to save us and let us be immature Christians. He wants to build our faith and trust in Him. He wants to make us strong in our reliance on His grace. So He calls us to take up the way of suffering as Christ did. We are to follow Christ's path. By His grace, we will, knowing that Christ's path ultimately leads to glory in the next life.

For now, we all, as true believers in Christ, walk down pathways of various sufferings. Though they are different, they all are designed by a sovereign and loving heavenly Father who is too wise to make a mistake and too kind to bring us harm.

Thank God for His unsearchable wisdom. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. O, the depths of His love and mercy toward us in Christ. In the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we have all the demonstration of God's goodness toward us that we need to trust Him in times of difficulty. If He has done the greater deed of sacrificing His only Son for the forgiveness of our sins, He will certainly do all the lesser things that will bring us to glory with Him. Thus we should continually praise the Lord for His many kindnesses to us in Christ.

 
Pam Smith is the Vice President for Student Advancement at Biblical Seminary and also instructs in our counseling program in the areas of career and coaching. Email Pam at psmith@biblical.edu