EMOTIONAL weakness, physical
paucity, mental illness, and the like — weaknesses of the human condition in
sum — connect us to God. Without these we could have no real,
veritable relationship with this Lord who suffered. Jesus Christ is the pattern
for life in that he bore in and through and over his own body the sufferings of
a brutal reality, which is life, from within which the brutal reality of his
death was suffered.
Christ and his Father know full
well of the trials and struggles that we endure; those that are both common to
life, yet unique to us as individuals who do feel singled out.
Can we read the following little
sonnet as a word that is perhaps from
God?
You, who
endure your pain,
Like being
caught in the rain,
Or being found
helpless in the drain,
Who feels
like you’re going insane,
Enduring
despite a sense of despair,
You, I
admire,
By My
strength you inspire,
When your
life feels it’s dire,
I know you’re
a trier,
In weakness you still choose to
dare.
God is so very proud of you for
your suffering forbearance. He who chose his Son to show us how to deal with
reality — to be still and know that God covers us in the blessings of hope — even
in, and very nearly because, of our travail — shows us, also, how to live by
bearing reality.
The abundant life is the life of bearing
reality with grace, knowing, accepting, even delighting, in our brokenness.
The abundant life flourishes with
joy in the midst of much want.
The person who can suffer adroitly,
who has complaint, but does not give up, and keeps going forward, is the person
on whom God’s blessing rests.
I don’t think God expects us to suffer
perfectly. He desires that we obey, yet he respects and forgives our stumbling.
None of us is Jesus Christ incarnate, yet we do have his power through the Holy
Spirit to bear our suffering to the point of faith and obedience. But we will
complain. We will grumble and groan.
We can afford to imagine God
encouraging our hearts, to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”
more often, especially when we’re doing our best to suffer obediently.
God bless you for your striding
forward in faith, in the midst of the troubles of your life. Be encouraged. You
make God proud of you.
All the Lord ever requires us to do
is to attempt to do his will.
© 2015 Steve Wickham.
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