Failure. Disappointment. Loss. Suffering.
The trials of life always seem to bring us to a crisis. For some, it's a
time of drawing nearer to the Savior, a deepening of the relationship, a
strengthening of the soul. For others, it's a time of turning away, of
anger, of denial. Why the difference?
Blinded by self-love some "lose" their understanding of the cross. That God the Father would send His
Son willingly and purposefully to die for wretched sinners is
indisputable proof that God is love. That God the Son would willingly
leave Heaven's glory and willingly offer Himself up on the cross for our
sins is indisputable proof that God is love. That God the Spirit would
woo totally unworthy, helpless sinners to believing faith in the love of
the Father and the sacrifice of the Son is undeniable proof that God is
love. And yet, when suffering comes,some convince themselves that the
immutable God has suddenly changed and no longer loves them or certainly
doesn't love them as much as He is obligated to do. Love you more than
the cross? God is love. It is not that He sometimes loves and sometimes
doesn't. He always acts in love.Nothing that comes into our lives has
not first passed the test of His love for us. Ask all the great men of
faith: Job, Abraham, Joseph, the prophets, John the Baptist, Paul, the
other Apostles. Suffering is not proof that God doesn't love us, but
that He does. And can our suffering compare to His? The physical agony
of the torture of the Crucifixion? The emotional trauma of weeping over
His beloved Jerusalem, the agonizing prayer in the garden, the betrayal,
the desertion by His closest friends, the people of the "apple of His
eye" so quickly turning from shouts of "Hosanna" to vicious shouts of
"Crucify Him"? And the unfathomable spiritual suffering of "My God, My
God, Why have You forsaken Me?" Every bit of that suffering was because
He loved you. How can anything that comes into our lives cause us to
doubt that God is love? The only answer can be that we have no sense of
our own sin, of our own depravity--and in light of who we are, His great
love.
And sometimes, I believe, that we falter because we are
unprepared. No one who is not saturating himself in the Word of God is
ready for the inevitable storms of life. To not daily put on the whole
armor of God is to go into the daily battle prepared to fail,
conditioned to doubt the Captain's wisdom. What soldier can endure
hardship if he is not fully arrayed in the Spirit's power and trained in
the effective wielding of the Sword. Shieldless, he is helpless against
the arrows of the Accuser. Swordless, he is incapable of resisting the
onslaught of the Enemy. And then to blame the Captain, to doubt His
wisdom.
Struggling with suffering in your life? Plead with the
Spirit to renew a right spirit within you. Plead with the Spirit to open
your eyes and to refocus your spiritual sight on your first love--the
wondrous cross where your loving Savior offered Himself up for you. Died
in your place. "O, what love that He should die for you!"
Struggling with suffering in your life? Are you going into battle
without your armor, without the might and power of the Spirit to enable
you to stand victorious in the fiercest heat of the spiritual warfare?
Saturate yourself in the Word. Each day; because it's a daily battle.
"Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me; help me
walk from day to day, with its shadow o'er me. Near the cross! Near the
cross!"
"Conquering now and still to conquer, rideth a King in
His might, leading the host of all the faithful into the midst of the
fight; see them with courage advancing, clad in their brilliant array,
shouting the name of their Leader, hear them exultingly say: 'Not to the
strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race, yet to the true and
the faithful victory is promised through grace.' "
"Put on the
whole armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil . . . having done everything to stand firm."
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