Yesterday the sermon at our church was a powerful reminder of hope and courage. As a nation we live in the now, and forget as Christians that this is in God's plan. He knew of these things long before we did, but he gave us hope for the future that these things would pass if we believed in the promise of a new world. We are to wait for the bigger picture to be revealed. The outcome is always better than the trial.
As Christians we should know that these horrors of the world all go back to chapter 6 of Genesis; the fall. God placed the world in bondage for our sins. We would always know about evil, pain and suffering, because of a piece of fruit. God allows sin, because Adam and Eve chose to disobey. We can blame everyone else around us for our suffering, but fail to see that we are sinners just as much them. We choose to run just like Jonah did, but God caught Jonah
While I was in the hospital last week I was waiting to undergo an endoscopy. In the next room a man was so angry. He was angry that he had to suffer, to wait, to endure an illness. He kept yelling at the nurse that was trying to find out why he was sick. He was belittling her with insults and rage. He was angry that she had to care for others and not just him. His focus was just on himself and not that there were those around him that were also suffering. I felt such sadness for his heart. I felt sadness for the nurse that was trying to help.
Our selfishness is showing more and more, and we are angry that we don't get what we want. This man was ill, but if you look around even the smallest of problems creates this type of anger. We believe as Christians that we no longer have sin. We become prideful, arrogant, and self-righteous. We forget as Christians that we still have a sinful nature and are capable of committing the smallest of sins daily. We have not that God is waiting for us to learn humility. We resent the fact that people won't act and do the things we think they should do.
A few years ago a Christian told me that we should not share our private lives after reading a posting on this blog. That is not biblical. We should share and connect as believers so we can hold each other up through our trials. We should share so another can tell us what we are doing wrong, and to seek the father. A true sign of believer is someone that can humbly admit that they played a role in the problem. They can accept the rebuke or correction from a fellow believer, and try to overcome that failing. It takes great courage and strength to admit that we may be wrong.
As I grow in my relationship with God I realize that I respect individuals more for having the courage to face their trials and sufferings head on. I find I respect individuals that admit they fail far more than the ones that pretend they do nothing wrong. I find the ones than can admit they are wrong to be far stronger individuals. They have faith and believe that the father will help them and put others in their lives to give them strength. I find ones that understand their sinful nature and sins to be far greater followers of Christ.
If we choose to ignore our realities this is our choice, and we are to blame. If we choose our wants over those we love we are selfish. If we choose our busyness over friends he questions your faith. If we choose to believe that we never have to give up our desires, our wants for another we have missed why Christ came. If we choose to live with bitterness and resentment we do not understand grace, mercy or forgiveness. We make the choice to live our lives only thinking about ourselves, and resent those we profess love that ask to change. We should not be shocked when they very people love have no desire to change for us. We should not be shocked at all that they don't trust us. We choose to make someone feel guilty, and use love against them to gain what want without thought to what we are doing to them.
I have been given the gift illness to make me stronger in him. I don't see it as punishment I see it as a blessing to learn more about what is in my heart that makes him weep. The gifts through this have been far greater than I could have ever imagined. My marriage is healing, and my heart is softening. I love more and cherish more. I am finding out that I am loved and cherished for who I am. I am witnessing the Holy Spirit everyday through others. I am seeing the miracles that God grants when we begin to trust him and others more. Those are blessings and gifts that I am grateful for. When we learn to lose ourselves in him we begin to see what we have been missing, or ignoring.
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