We all have visions, goals and dreams of having a "perfect life," don't we. None of us enjoys pain, conflict or war.
Jesus never promises us a "rose garden."
But I would suggest to you today that to follow Jesus actually invites pain, it invites sorrow, it invites challenges that put us in a position where we are totally dependent upon God. And it is when we embrace those challenges that we actually are living life as God intends us to live.
The spiritual challenge we face is to keep our focus on a "perfect life" in the midst of our problems and struggles.
To quote, "by embracing the reality of our mortal life, we can get in touch with the eternal life that has been sown there."
In other words, it's as I embrace my suffering that I truly live life. It's as I wrap my arms around my problems, acknowledge their reality, yet continue to focus on God that I am truly experiencing life the way God intended me to.
Paul writes in Second Corinthians 4:8-12, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."
Only by facing our own problems and mortality can we come in touch with the life that overcomes death. Our imperfections and mistakes and trials open the door for us to step through to experience the "perfect life" that God in and through Jesus has promised us.
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2 comments:
Those are words to live by.
In the hard times is where we are absolutely sure that God's hand is on us. In good times, we might have the tendency to start relying on ourselves but when things go bad, we run back to God with the knowledge that He runs the universe and can get us through whatever issue we are going through.
In the good times, we should be praising God; in the bad times, we should be praising God even more. Job should be our example...even in the loss of everything, he stayed faithful to God and praised Him for his life. God was faithful to Job and returned to him double what he had lost. God is faithful to us as well...while we might go through some rough times, God will get us through them and will reward us for our faithfulness. That reward may not be here on this earth but earthly rewards (and peace and health and financial prosperity, etc.) are only temporary...it is the reward of heaven and an eternity with God that is the greatest reward we could ever seek. God promises that if we follow Him, He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us...to prosper US!
God loves us so much more than we can understand at this point in our existence...I place my trust in God's love for me and the knowledge that whatever happens on this earth is but a fraction of a moment in my existence. When I was in the military, we used to say during each physical fitness test, "You can do anything for two minutes." Two minutes was the amount of time we had to do as many pushups or situps as we could during our evaluation. Well, in applying that principle to our lives, what we live here on earth is but a fragment of what our real lives will cover...so we should be able to do anything for our time here! It may not be easy (those pushups and situps after the first minute or so weren't that easy either) but God doesn't promise us easy...He promises us eternal life through Jesus Christ his Son! We can do all things through Christ who saved us...the power of God is an awesome thing. Trust in it!
May God bless you and keep you, may He prosper you in some way today.
Jon
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