Thursday, March 31, 2011

Give this girl a pulpit; she's got a sermon to preach!

That's a fair warning that this blog is going to be a bit lengthy. The Lord just blew my mind with some ideas this morning, and I must share them. I hope and pray this encourages everyone who reads it.

Every morning my quiet times consist of some prayer and some Bible reading or study. Lately, I have journaled everyday to keep track of my prayers in hopes of being more consistent with my "thank you's" to Jesus. So this morning I was journaling, praying for several friends that seem to be dealing with "stuff." If you know anyone at all in the world, you know someone dealing with "stuff." So I was praying through my short list of stuff-dealers and asking God to work miracles in their lives. I thought I was praying in faith and believing for big things, and I was reasonably sure God was pleased with my boldness and my willingness to pray.

Then I opened my Bible study book: The Grace Awakening by Chuck Swindoll. I've been reading slowly through this book for months now. I love it. Grace could actually reform the church. In fact, it was supposed to, but somewhere along the way we got hung up on religion and laws and outward appearances, and we stifled grace. When grace awakens, beware. The church will be who she was destined to be and the world will never be the same. I write all this, but believe you me, grace is a hard idea to grasp, especially if you're a rules and regulations kinda girl like me. Still, my mind and heart are awakening to new ideas, and in God's timing they'll click and hopefully make something beautiful happen.

Of course, I've bunny trailed during a blog that's already going to be long enough for 3 days. Ah, maybe I'll lure you back by creating cliff hangers. I love just thinking onto a computer screen. You smarties out there will diagnose me with all sorts of mental conditions if I stay this raw and unedited.

Here's what I read when I opened my book today. The section was titled: Claiming the Grace to Learn From What I Suffer. And immediately I had this idea. Praying in faith for big things to happen was great, but I was missing the point. God wants to do great things in people's lives, but what He really wants to do is produce something beautiful from our sufferings. It's part of our sanctification process. I can pray for quick, easy, miraculous fixes, and I will keep on doing so, but I must also pray for the lessons that are being taught are actually being learned.

This isn't a new idea to me, but I had forgotten it for a while. It's easy when you have a list a mile long of your own issues and requests and the requests of friends and loved ones to just read down it, asking God to save such and such, heal so and so, help this one, etc... We lose sight of the big picture. We forget (or we never know) what God might be doing with all this so called trouble.

So I asked myself: what's the point of all this suffering if something beautiful isn't coming out of it? I know God isn't just allowing these circumstances and trials in our lives to frustrate us. I know He's able to turn them into something good. Am I asking for that? A picture came into my mind: childbirth. The pain of labor is by no means something to scoff at. It's real. The bravest and strongest of women at least flinch. One thought makes it bearable, though, and that is knowing that at the end of the pain, the most beautiful, precious reward will be laid in our arms. Our suffering produces a treasure beyond compare. The pain is quickly forgotten as that sweet newborn lies across our stomach and begins to take notice of the world. Any suffering we endured becomes obsolete in light of that tender cry and soft skin.

That is how God is looking at our sufferings. He sees what they are producing in us. He sees the character being shaped. He sees beyond the temporary and into the eternal. So should we. We all have struggles and weaknesses that some days seem unbearable. Physical ailments, broken relationships, busy-ness and high demands - you name it, we are burdened with a lot of junk. It's easy to be beaten down by our circumstances. What we need is the grace to learn what the Lord is trying to teach us when He allows these things to come into our lives. We need the grace to be content in our weaknesses. Lord, help us. Like Stephen when he was dying, we need to look up and beyond ourselves to see the glory of God (Acts 7:55).

Look at James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The challenge from these verses is to consider our trials tests of faith. Really? Yes! We are saved by faith. Scripture is clear on that. James points out in his book that the kind of faith that saves us is the kind that produces good works. (Hear what I'm saying. We are saved by faith. Faith produces good works. I did not, nor will I say, that good works save us.) So this faith thing is a big deal. Time and again in Scripture we see people's faith being tested, and we are told ours will be. Why? James says so we can be mature and complete, not lacking anything. That's a pretty good reason. So when my day isn't going well or when someone is driving me crazy or my plans aren't working right, I must remind myself that my faith is being tested. If I believe and smile and act right when life's going my way, what testimony is that? It's when everything's topsy turvy that my faith really makes a statement. That's when people take notice. Tests of faith teach me to press on toward Christ. They cause me to pray more and depend more on Him. They prompt me to set aside myself and make room for His Spirit to work. If those things happen, I pass the test. I develop perseverance, and I get one step closer to maturity.

The other idea I pulled from this passage is that God wants us to be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Do you hear that? He wants us to have all we need and be all He made us to be. He wants His best for us. He wants to give us abundant life. He is good and kind, and I marvel at His desires for me. In ancient Rome, the gladiators fought in front of crowds that longed to see blood and death. They oo-ed and aw-ed over the suffering and the cruelty of the events. It was all part of the show. They were being entertained. God is not like that for a moment. We aren't actors in some sitcom He watches from a recliner in heaven. He isn't cheering for one of us and boo-ing the others. We are His children, and His desire is that we lack nothing. He wants us to persevere and learn from our struggles and fights. He's cheering us on to victory. God wants us to succeed.

I have more to say. I'll write again soon. In the mean time, take time to think about what trials you are facing. What are you struggling with? If you are breathing, something's pulling at you. It's just the way life is. Ask God what He's trying to teach you. Open your heart and mind to learn from your circumstances. And when you are praying for someone else, ask God to show them what they need to learn as well. Ask God for an eternal perspective on these puzzle pieces...

1 comment:

  1. Today, the Lord has used you to remind me friend, to make me look at this "stuff" differently. Thank you, and Praise Him. Have a blessed weekend.

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