"Those who drink deeply of the grace of God obey him, and obeying a radical like Jesus Christ always involves some risk... Far too many of us are content with being comfortable in out faith... You and I are only disciples if we follow the example of our Lord in all things, including suffering and the resurrection...
A couple of valid questions are: "Why does God allow suffering in our lives?" and "Why doesn't he rescue us out of it immediately?" Pain produces character in our lives like no amount of pleasure possibly can. Failure and rejection force us to seek God's face just as Moses did. When we go to him in desperation, our ears and our hearts are more open to him than ever before. In that face-to-face encounter, God can expose and purge away impurities in our behavior and motivation. We see our selfishness as never before, and we also experience God's grace as never before. Failure and rejection have a way of stripping us of dependence on our own abilities. We realize we can't accomplish things apart from God's direction and power. As our motives are purified and our faith grows, we are better able to rest in and trust in God's hands. This will allow us to become more useful in his loving hands."
Let's just say, I have and continually experience this process. Sometimes its little things and sometimes its not (sometimes I wonder if I am going through the valley of death like Moses did). However, when I get to the other side of the pain and suffering I always look back, thankful for what God did.
Let's take a step back in time... high school.
Sophomore year: I accepted Christ, broke up with my first boyfriend, and lost my best friend of 13 years to rehab for drugs and alcohol. In this time, I was in the depths, but God's hand was in full control of my life.
He orchestrated a friendship with a girl I met in freshman year gym class. She and I had a relationship that grew around a passion for Christ and the outdoors. In the midst of losing two good friends, he brought me together with someone who would lift me up and spur me on. Today we are still best friends and He keeps doing crazy things through each of us!
Junior year: I broke my collar bone and shattered my shoulder blade. During recovery, I was taught patience and this time furthered my passion. I passionately wanted to get back to sports and patiently followed doctors orders aiding my ability to get back in the game. Not only did I heal, but I came back stronger and faster than before. I learned to persevere.
On God's time, we are molded into faithful disciples. "God is much more interested in our faith in him growing than in our comfort and pleasure." Are you?
Like Pastor Aaron says, "It's not how big our problem is, it's how Great our God is!"
All quotes in this post that are not the Bible or followed by another person's name are from David Nasser's A Call to Die
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