Good Morning, I hope you are having your first sip of coffee. As the Father warms you by His love, I have a question for you to ponder together with Him.
Jesus, our oldest brother, is the only one ever born free from the effects of Adam's decision to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
If for Him the way to learn obedience was through the things which He suffered, WHY do we think all suffering is bad ? Why do we keep running from our suffering ? Why do we not choose to embrace it and learn from it ? Why are so few of us aware that our wrong responses to suffering can cause the Living Word of God sown in our hearts to die and not be fruitful ?
Just a question, asked with deep love for you.
His, thus Yours,
Stuart
5 comments:
It's all in how you embrace the suffering. I had 2 choices to make when I lost my husband, Jody in a terrible car accident. I could've claimed the role of victim and blamed God for all of my suffering, blamed others, felt sorry for myself, and withdrawn myself from God...or I could've chosen to run to God, the the only one in the whole universe who could give me the peace and love I so needed at the time. Because I chose to run to God, I became so much closer to Him. I began to know Him in a way I had never known Him before. He has used that intimacy to transform me. Since Jody's death, I not only have become more like Him and become closer to Him, I have also embraced what He had planned for my life. I am now married again to the most wonderful loving man I've ever known and out of that have 2 beautiful children! I'm so glad I chose to run to God instead of away from Him.
My suffering has made me who I am. In the ministry Papa has set before my feet, I am to tell young mothers on the brink of complete despair, that there is reason to hope. Even as my suffering ebbs and flows, with times of survival mode and brief views from the summit of another mountain. Choosing to find the beauty in the ashes is not an easy task. When the world seems to be crumbling around you, it takes courage and will to choose to cling to Papa, instead of letting the destruction around you sweep you away. I seem to fail at this just as often as I succeed. Asking Papa, haven't I been through enough? Is one peaceful day too much to ask? Alas, I still have far to go. It is hard to embrace suffering.
I recently was thinking about how I have been going through an extended period of time of being taught by Father. This teaching has put me in waters a little too deep everyday for a while now. In the past, I would have asked Him to leave me alone for a while. Now, I beg Him to stay and not ever let me walk in shallow water again. I realize that in the deep water I feel incredibly loved. He loves me so much that He wants to take time to show me some things that inevitably cause me to grow as a human, but also in my relationship with Him. How He loves us so! For Jesus to have consciously decided to become human, then suffer and die, goes completely against the way God made humans to be (fight for survival). I will do anything or go through anything for Him.
It all comes down to our relationship with Daddy. When we accept our identity in Him, we realize that our "suffering" is our oportunity to learn. This often happens when we "missed" an opportunity to excel by following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Daddy uses and turns all things for the good of His children. Knowing that we are always in His presence and can rest there gives peace unspeakable. As Jesus, as a man led by the Holy Spirit learned obedience and trust in our Father, we too need to embrace all of God's grace regardless of how it is manifested before us. Relationship, an intimate relationship with Daddy puts everything into it's proper perspective. Blessings to all.
No one enjoys suffering. It's instinctive to relate suffering to being bad. It goes against everything comfortable. We associate it with bad because it's unpleasant. It's what we've been taught all our life. Suffering is not good. It sucks :-) Very good point how important it is to have the right response to suffering. Shit happens. But God is working it all together for Good. :-) Important to keep the focus. :-)
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