Conquerors, Sufferers, Givers, Lovers, Inspirers

WHAT might fill God with a feeling of having been worshipped?

When God sees a person doing life tough, but doing the best they can; how does God feel? When God knows we are missing out on what our hearts tell us could be appropriate, and we wait on his timely provision, our Lord is worshipped.

When we suffer well we worship Jesus in an incarnational way. This means we behave as Jesus behaved. We don’t complain. We get over complaint. And when we do that something happens. God transforms us through humiliation to humility and from offence to obedience. From anger we come to joy. From pride we come to peace. And even the devil cannot take joy and peace from us. And then we learn life’s most important lesson — it is through suffering that we come to be conquerors.

Only through suffering will we be humbled enough to know that we cannot control our lives. But we can control how we will respond to life’s tests. When we respond well to the situations of life that are hard, we worship God about the best we can ever do. Better still is it to initiate works of love — in faith — despite the fear, discouragement and doubt we might be feeling. To grin and bear. Not in fakeness. In authenticity, ready to share the amazingly compelling hope we have inside us.

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Conquerors are sufferers are givers are lovers are inspirers.

Why would we not willingly suffer — and suffer our circumstances well — when we are — at the very same time — conquerors and givers and lovers and inspirers? What can conquer us if our suffering can’t? What can we not give if we can give ourselves in suffering? Where will we fail love’s test if we love God enough to live our own life, just as it is, better than ever before? — in surrender to his will. Who will we not inspire? Not least ourselves will we inspire.

We are not called to suffer anybody else’s life. We are called only to suffer our own.

We can do that. God doesn’t ask us to do anything he asks others to do. He only asks us to do what he asks us to do.

Conquerors are sufferers are givers are lovers are inspirers.

If we will live a successful life it will be because we mastered this basic principle: the acceptance of our living situation, now. It’s all we are required practically to do. It’s all we can do. Need we do anything else? We are to be happy with the very life we are given.

Is that so unpalatable? No. It is the best life for this lifetime, because God gave it to us. We all have our portions of suffering.

Conquerors are sufferers are givers are lovers are inspirers. And, are worshippers of God.

And if we will suffer our own lives well, the true Christ will lead us to himself. And life will never be the same again.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.