The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Saturday
January 5, 2008
God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a
result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have
more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace. All honor to the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God
has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful
expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved
a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and
undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in his mighty power,
will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him.
It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad! There is
wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials
for a while.
I Peter 1:2, 4-6
Well, we know that "the going is rough for a while down here" don't we? In his book, The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck opens with the sentence, "Life is difficult." He says that once we realize problems are inevitable, we learn to truly appreciate the moments when life is good, true moments of serendipity. God wants to give us beauty for ashes. He wants to turn our woes to wows, but what is the process?
First, we must learn to trust God. As today's scripture implies, God holds for each of us an account in heaven that is, "pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay." As our Father, He is making preparations for our trip to His ultimate reality. Our problem is that we get bogged down in what is happening here.
Second, we must face our difficulties head on. Rich Buhler, in his book, Pain and Pretending, says, "God has given us pain as a sign that something is wrong and needs correction. If I want to solve my problem, I frequently have to walk in the direction of the pain, not because I like pain but because I want to know the truth, which happens to be somewhere in the direction of the pain." His book deals with childhood victimization, but this nugget of truth can be applied to any painful situation.
Third, we make a conscious choice to grow through the pain rather than just go through it. Watchman Nee, in A Table in the Wilderness, says, "If we but knew it, we thrive and grow on difficulties. . .Abandon your faith in God and turn away from the problem and you put yourself in a position to be swallowed up by what was meant for your growth." When we turn from the problem and from God, bitterness develops instead of wisdom.
When I ended up with two grandchildren to raise, believe me, everything in me wanted to let Calcon take me away somewhere, but I've stayed. Although I stay tired a lot, it is a genuine joy to watch these children grow, learn, and even trust.
When we trust God, face our difficulties, and grow through the pain, God gives us windows of opportunities to not only grow, but to also experience His joy by watching someone else grow. God says to us in Psalm 50:15, "I want you to trust me in your times trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give me glory." Go ahead ¾ trust and obey ¾ experience His glorious joy today!
