with suffering
i have realized lately that there's not a lot of suffering in my life. i say i want to be compassionate, but i'm lacking an element of suffering. com (with) passion (suffering). just the whole idea of saying i'm passionate about God, and yet lack any type of real suffering in my life makes me wonder if i'm in quite the right spot. i'm open right now to entering into some real un-safe situation, and even taking on some elements of suffering. i'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Libby would certainly say that this is not a good thing...right???
Philippians 3:8-11 (TNIV)
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.Philippians 3:7-11 (The Message)
7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.10-11I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
4 comments:
Well, I wouldn't in theory say that going into a period of suffering for the sake of Christ is a bad thing... it's just that you're my husband and of course I don't want you to suffer. And I certainly don't want to risk losing you or having our kids lose you. So... I guess God's gonna have to convince me if you're supposed to go somewhere "dangerous" for a trip or something...
I wonder if suffering is a prerequisite for experiencing God fully. I think you're right that it usually helps bring us closer, but is it possible to put yourself in that situation or does God have to "provide" the situation to bring us closer?
i think about this all the time. ph. 1:29 says "for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for Him." granted to me?...what? i'm not sure if that's what i would ask my genie for...or would i? i think the context in which paul wrote this is so foreign to me that i'm not sure i'll ever understand it. when i talk with friends who've gone over seas to do mission work, invariably i hear that it's so much easier to be a follower of Christ over seas because there's so fewer distractions- mainly materialistic ones. i've lived a life so full of distractions that i may never understand what it means to be fixated on Christ like paul was...even to the point of considering suffering a "grant". check this out-
"I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned (the old fashioned kind...i added that), three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches"
-if you're anything like me, and i think you are, this sounds so exiting! being in the good 'ole u.s. of a, the closest i may get to experiencing this is reading Christian-hate blogs while internet surfing. then again, if it's more difficult to follow Christ here, than maybe i already am suffering. how do i radically serve Christ even when it's "boring" in comparison to paul? (that's rhetorical, unless you want to answer)
Ben,
you are right on - thanks for your words.
the main thing i'm struggling with when it comes to suffering, is that i don't really know what it is...yet.
case in point, this morning I took Eli to school. When I dropped him off I realized that we forgot to bring cup cakes for his B-day party (his birthday is in July, but they celebrate the summer birthdays towards the end of the school year). So I had time to go get him some cup cakes (although they were green with little bees on them - hopefully he won't come home with a complex), take them back to his school, and then still had time to stop by and get myself a caramel machiato...what gives? where's the suffering in my life? it's there, but it's not deep and dark.
but I agree, sometimes it's more difficult to rely on the fullness of Christ when you have a caremel machiato in your hand...that's the conflict.
But it is easy for me to say that he is good. And He is!
agreed
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