"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NKJV)
It is a very common trap for Christians to believe that when you accept Christ that things should become easy and smooth. After all, God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us, right? And to be honest, when I first accepted Christ, things were pretty smooth in many ways because God would show His presence very quickly to help reinforce my fledgling faith. But that only lasted for a season, and once I grew into maturity in faith, there were many moments of tribulation, where great patience would be required of me.
As I'm going through another period of trial, I thought it was so enlightening that Jesus Himself stated that tribulation is something that we will all go through as Christians. There is no opting out of it; we simply will not have a completely easy life. In fact, I suspect that God desires to develop our character by putting us through the fire in order to allow ourselves to see what we're made of when put to the test. And the truth is usually pretty embarrassing when we see our reactions of anger, frustration, and self-centeredness.
Most of the time I walk along through life believing that I'm doing all right - I'm good - My faith is strong. But, then when God allows tribulation in my life, I become angry at Him and disillusioned from my erroneous belief that somehow my life should be easier than a non-believer's. "If I am a child of God and an heir to Your kingdom, why don't you make my path easy!!," I whine.
When the fear passes and I come to my senses, I realize that I am fine in the midst of the storm. Nothing has really harmed me and my family and I are well. God is still taking care of us even though my life isn't moving in the direction that I had planned and expected.
It is at that moment that the Lord is finally able to really speak into my life because I no longer am focused on my own goals and objectives. Like the two pilots who were recently suspended, I had been flying on autopilot and ignoring the calls to land at a scheduled destination. In fact, I was too busy arguing with God to pay attention to my bearings.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being patient and gentle with Your servant. I know that I often get so caught up with the cares and concerns over our daily life and my expectations, that You have no way to communicate with me. I'm simply not taking the time to pause and hear You. Please open my heart to You today, and speak whatever You desire. May I have the courage and patience to walk in Your way every single day of my life. In Your saving name, Amen.
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