The wisdom of God is always contrary to the wisdom of the world. Therefore, I suggest that the only way to understand God's ways is to seek His face. The world tells us to hold on to our lives as tightly as we can...it tells us that we can be happy if we can just get enough money and "stuff"...it tells us that recognition and fame is the ultimate goal of our lives. But God tells us that if we give up our lives for Him, we will find the abundant life that He created us for.
"If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it." --Matthew 10:39.
"The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." --John 10:10.
Even though we think of "giving our lives up for God" as meaning we must be martyred, only some of us will have this honor. What God is calling us to is surrendering all that we are to His power and sovereignty...and, in turn, we will die...to sin. As described all throughout Romans, but especially chapters 3-6, when we are justified by faith and begin the process of sanctification, sin loses all power over us. Do you get that? When we get to this point, it means that we realize and appreciate Christ's sacrifice in our place...it means that we comprehend the fact that this world is not all there is...it means that we truly are living in the world, but we are not of it.
Ok, enough of that little tangent...but the second I typed "Romans," I knew all hope of staying on topic was lost. When we truly apply Isaiah 55:8-9, we understand that it is for our good that we endure hardship as discipline, because if we are not being molded, then we are not sprinting towards our Savior as we should be. Something that I heard today that I had never really connected with this passage had to do with Psalm 18 (also 2 Samuel 22).
"But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears. Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of His anger. Smoke poured from His nostrils; fierce flames leaped from His mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from Him. He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath His feet...The LORD thundered from Heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals." --Psalm 18:6-13.
God's deliverance came in the form of a storm. We probably all picture God's deliverance in a way that involves Him removing the obstacles and enemies from our lives...but this is not what David describes. God uses ways higher than we can imagine to accomplish what He wants in our lives. Sometimes, His answer to us when we plead for deliverance from all of our circumstances is that He has to take us through more first. We have no idea the ways He is maturing us through all of our problems and trials, but we just need to stick it out and find God's peace in every situation. We are not supposed to be comfortable in this world...we do not belong here! How could life on earth possibly be easy and carefree when this is where we are doing Kingdom work before we get to the Kingdom? (Not to say that good works contribute to our salvation, but the reason we are here is to be God's messengers and servants.)
Even though it hurts...REALLY hurts...to be in this dark and fallen world, we have to be tough. Endurance. Character. Hope.
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