I'm sure some of you, who read my last post, thought to yourselves, "who would want to serve a God who demands that we willingly place ourselves in a place of suffering in order to honor Him?" And I can see how you might have arrived at that understanding - or rather, mis-understanding -of what I'd said. God does not inflict pain in order to make Himself look good or in order to derive any satisfaction or enjoyment out of our suffering. No! Rather, God uses the inevitable suffering of this sin-fallen world, to whittle us, shape us, and hone us into useful vessels and weapons to be used in His service, in His army--as our suffering thus empowers us, in a very real way, to do damage to the realms of darkness as we advance the cause of Christ. God refines our character and teaches us endurance, so when those who practice evil in this world, cause us suffering, we are not demolished and defeated, but rather can rise up despite it, and persevere and conquer in Jesus' name. It teaches us to respond in love rather than in hate. It teaches us patience, perseverence, longsuffering and allows us to have joy despite horrific circumstances.
You say, really? How likely is it that we are going to be caused harm by a lover of darkness? Well, have you ever been gossiped about? Lied about? Charged with a wrong of which you are innocent? These events are all specific types of suffering and they can often occur as a result of the fact that we are servants of the Most High. Learning how to endure that kind of discomfort and pain, and to respond with patience and love, laying down our "rights"to vindictiveness or retribution honors God and will be rewarded by Him in His Kingdom. And there are many,many people in this world who stand to lose more than their reputation or job for the sake of Christ. Their lives are endangered and are often lost as a consequence of their love for Jesus and because of the mere fact that they wear His name and are identified with Him. Many, many thousands of lives are lost annually because of this. Countless endure arrest, imprisonment, slavery, torture and worse for the same reason. You may not know this fact, because it is not one that the media publicizes but it is a very true fact, verified by eyewitnesses, pictures, and the testimonies of those who endure it as a part of their lives or who have escaped from it to come and give witness to that truth here, where, thus far, we still have freedom to worship and call ourselves "Christians"...
What does this have to do with my last post? The time will come, and is drawing very near, when our liberty to worship and serve the Lord Jesus will become imperiled and possibly outlawed. Persecution is not far away from this country too. So what does my enduring chronic pain have to do with that? My friends, I have committed myself to bring honor to Christ, regardlless of what this life brings me. I have committed myself to do whatever it is that I do in His honor and in His strength. That includes enduring pain. And what use can God make of that? Well, for example, when the time comes, when possibly I might have to endure hardship, pain and suffering as a result of bearing the name of Christ, then all the training that I got enduring this chronic pain, will come in handy. I will have endurance, joy, peace, patience....and be READY to persevere until the end.
But, you say, what if that persecution does not come in my lifetime? Well, I still will have had my character molded and it will be stamped with the imprint of the character of Christ. And when other hardship comes my way, I will not be destroyed by it; I will not "curse God and die" when trials come, but rather, will be more ready to face them; more prepared to bring God glory through the way that I manage myself in the midst of them.
And too, I do believe, that Jesus is honored -- and even delighted-- when we, out of love and passion for Him are so willing to walk in the path that He walked, that we are ready to embrace the pain and suffering of life and to lie ourselves down on that cross and invite the nails.
This kind of view is not popular today. No. It went out of style with the Puritans and the likes of great men like Jonathan Edwards. Today, the ecstacies, the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit are popular. Healing is popular. The "joy of the Lord" is popular. Loud worship is popular. And all of that has it's place. But I believe that the discipline and the life of the cross has much to teach us...and we have lost immense treasures when we spurned that, thumbed our noses at suffering...and rather, insisted that God heal us of every twinge and claimed that healing, rebuked our suffering...refused to learn from it; refused to be shaped and sharpened by it. And as a consequence, here I would make a bold statement...but one that I wholeheartedly believe is true: As a result, there is MUCH that we do not know of the character of Christ. Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Did he "rebuke" every sorrow and hardship that came his way? NO. He learned obedience from what he suffered. Obedience and submission are NOT popular terms or concepts today. Discipline is equally disdained. But all of these are so sadly lacking in Christ's followers. And they are so central to the character of Christ ... and how else are we to learn them, except in the same manner that He did? --By submitting in humility to the suffering in our lives, determining beforehand that we will honor Christ and seek to learn to respond like Him to each one of these lessons that suffering will bring our way.
And this does NOT result in a thin-lipped narrow-minded follower of Christ!!! NO!!! It results in joy and in freedom! why? Because not the world, nor anything in it, will have the power to shake us off course from our pursuit of Jesus. We will have no fear! And when that cancer comes, or death comes to visit us or those we love, our faith will be on solid rock...unshakeable and unthreatened by catastrophe or suffering. And, God forbid our freedom to worship should be removed? We will hold fast. And we will NOT deny the name and honor of our Lord, no matter WHAT shall come our way as a consequence. And this strength brings freedom and joy.
And just having the intimacy with Christ that comes as we depend on HIm alone for comfort in our pain...that leads us too to an ecstacy of joy and worship unlike any other. It is not fluff. It is not pumped up by charismatic preaching...but which will crumble and flee at the first sign of hardship....NO, It is solid ...unmoveable. Secure. Faith built on a Rock which cannot be moved. And our faces will shine with the love and knowledge of the ONE for whom we have given up all our "rights" to a painfree existence...And that existance is really only a fairy tale any way; one that would either have to flee, crumble, go mad, or pretend to be strong, but which would be only pretence in the face of pain.
There is much more to be said about the way and the delights of the cross. But I think I've given you enough to consider for now. I hope this clarifies my prior post to your understanding. This is the path to which I've committed myself. And to which I now am returning.
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