Oh God, bear witness to the Word of your Grace through what we hear. Acts 14:3
I am so moved that Paul and Barnabas remained long days and months teaching in the synagogue, regardless of how they were received. We measure our ministry this day and age by our success. How many people are willing to follow us? Not so. Why is it that numbers excite and encourage?
Paul was stoned in Acts 14:22 and it is powerful words that come out of his mouth:
"Through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God."
Our flesh does not want to suffer.
Our friends really don't want us to suffer.
We view suffering as a defeat, an obstacle, a detour.
It may just be that we have things turned things upside down.
The prophets in the Old Testament, like Elijah, wrestled well with their lives on the line to represent God. So much so, that even the abominable Ahab repents. Unexpected. Unabashedly. I Kings 21:27
Oh God, bear witness to this Word of Grace you are speaking to us to never ever give up based on who follows us, who doesn't. Who changes, who won't. Who grows, who can't. Who loves, who don't.
This is the heart of today's readings, Bev. "Through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God."
ReplyDeleteDoes comfort cause complacency? Do lack of trials in our lives produce fruit? Well it's been my experience that when I am fat and comfy, I'm not as desperate for the eternal joys, or even His daily help right here right now.
How well we wrestle with the temporal things of today helps us with trust and faith and peace and joy, and all the eternal Promises found in Christ Jesus.
Who do you know who has that peace about them? You know the kind that seem to face every trial and walk courageously through the battle with a sense of wellbeing. They know. They know that these things (like a stoning or a shipwreck) are not fun, but they are growing us toward God's Face of Grace.
And that makes it worth it all. That makes allows us to say like James, "We count it all joy when facing trials of various kinds..." Not fun. Not even good like medicine is for us. But joy as in understanding that there is so much more at stake than meets the surface of our present sufferings.
PS Every time I tried to type trials I kept typing trails. Trials are trails to Kingdom living.