to see Him high and lifted up

I read a chapter in Don't Waste Your Life this morning called "Magnifying Christ Through Pain and Death." As I've mentioned before, this semester has been full of suffering, in a lot of different ways and in lots of different things. And honestly, all I've wanted to do is get the heck out of all of it! My prayers have been that the Lord would end it all...heal my Papa, beat the truth into people's heads that are refusing to see Him, somehow get me the heck away from school work and let me have A's, make ministry easy and full of beautiful fruitfulness without any cost to me...all I've wanted to do is get out and away from all these hard things going on. About a week ago, (during the week from you-know-where), I was thinking about how upset I had been all week. And I thought, I often call God the "lifter of my head," and the Bible even says the same thing so many times. But my head had definitely not been lifted...so what did that say about what I was believing? What did that say about who or what I was seeking? He showed me that it hadn't been Him.
In this chapter, John Piper dissects why God allows suffering to happen to His children...not only allowing them, but even purposfully USING them. As I read, I realized I haven't been seeing the TRUTH behind life and circumstances...ALL things are by Him, and through Him, and to Him. The reason suffering is allowed in my life, is to make much of Him and to teach and allow me to treasure Him above everything else in this world. And I've been missing it!
"The design of Paul's suffering was to make radically clear for his own soul, and for ours, that God and God alone is the only treasure who lasts. When everything in life is stripped away except God, and we trust Him more because of it, this is GAIN, and HE IS GLORIFIED." What greater joy is there for me?


"What a tragic waste when people turn away from the Calvary road of love and suffering. all the riches of the glory of God in Christ are on that road. All the sweetest fellowship with Jesus is there. All the treasures of assurance. All the ecstasies of joy. All the clearest sightings of eternity. All the noblest camaraderie. All the humblest affections. All the most tender acts of forgiving kindness. All the deepest discoveries of God's Word. All the most earnest prayers. They are all on the Calvary road where Jesus walks with His people. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. On this road, and this road alone, life is Christ and death is gain. Life on every other road is wasted." 
How great is this God, that even the very worst things in life He uses for our sweetest joy and blessing! Blows my mind...