to my vcf/ccf girlfriends
just sharing my thoughts on 07 March 2009, 9pm
Yesterday i struggled w/the thoughts between blessing n suffering... i asked how are the two reconcileable?..i wrestled coz when i think of God's blessing.. why does it always come w/suffering….in fact suffering is never absent......after the first, there’s always another one on queue…waiting.. …the blessing comes and so does suffering and that suffering overshadows the blessing….although God has default blessings we know (warm shelter, food on table, protection, source of income..the list goes on).
In times past, i tried to contest the verses that promise answered prayers and Jeremiah 29.11. I grew weary of His promises that I didn't wanna hear 'em anymore. When I bumped into them during quiet time, I just skipped ‘em and shut my senses.
I would pick up my Bible only to put it down. Just then, I remembered the promise the Lord and I made together…. that my relationship with God wilI always be based on transparency and honesty.…so that reminder kinda nudged me. Finally, after some hesitation and remembering that ‘binding agreement,’ I said 'OK God we have to settle this. I cannot go on pretending we're okay when we're not. I need a straight answer to a straight question.'
You see God and I had always had issues and arguments, miscommunication perhaps (when I misinterpret His word).. i begin to hurt when i see his promises do not match the reality.. have you felt and seen things that way? you keep on praying for someone to be healed and the person just keeps relapsing…countless times, the spirit of infirmity just won’t leave….where is the Healer that he promised to be?.. i prayed for someone to be financially free since he has long repented of his mistakes yet he’s still sunk deep in the mire...it's tiring to wait for answers right? ..you prayed and pray for months and years now and there ain't any certainty of answer...old problem, old struggle…when these people hurt you also hurt with them...add to that your own bouts n personal struggle in your Christian walk
how do we reconcile blessing n suffering….how can you call yourself blessed when you're suffering..
i guess there are two roads here
one road for blessing and another for suffering....afer all Jesus said of anyone who wants to come after Him - to deny himself, pick up his cross n follow Him.' Ptr Peter said "Christianity is not difficult. It is impossible." I so agree.
anyway, God is real and wise, he did not answer my question directly but he dealt w/the real issue - my lack of understanding of suffering…..subsconsciously for me, suffering equals punishment all the time….such that when he sends me this, I feel so unloved, unwanted….and i know the truth, but i didn't accept the truth about the real goal of suffering…..coz for me suffering represents an unloving hand of God
I peter 1.6-7, 11 - talks about the goal of suffering…...ohh, God allows suffering not to punish us….Here are my scribbled notes from my journal..
the goal of suffering ---
is to purify our faith (i've always known this, but not always anchored in my heart) after suffering, the blessing will follow – but only after we have allowed suffering to melt off the impurities of our faith ….and then we will become worthy to have supper with the Lamb
Picture this in the Lord's banquet, the residents of heaven wondering when they see those who sneak in without a valid ticket - "how come he's entered in? did he have a pass? Was his faith real? or phony?”
i see now, suffering is related to our faith….God led me to a deeper understanding of it….if our faith is not genuine, we might endure staring, questioning eyes up there….(i'm exaggerating just to make a point, as all saints there have been or will have been bloodwashed by the Lamb). God’s telling us that ‘a tested faith’ is our ticket…it is what qualifies us…
the goal of suffering ---
is to purify our character…..to make us ready to join the banquet of the Lamb…Jesus wants us to be “counted in” on that feast!! with a valid pass of why we are there…no doubting looks from their eyes….no questions asked! we can boldly enter…we won’t feel alienated…we have confidence.
OUR FAITH, OUR CHARACTER...NOTHING ELSE MATTERS TO GOD THAN OUR ALLEGIANCE TO HIM THIS SIDE OF ETERNITY
God’s Spirit says…Suffering is not God’s way of punishing us…he does not delight seeing us in pain....u don’t wanna believe? Me to, before….so here’s the argument.. if he really wanted to punish us through suffering – he could have just let things be…he could have just stayed in heaven, not bothered coming down, not thought of taking on that unimpressive human form, not suffered that excruciating pain on the cross and not died in a shameful way…..he should have just let us stayed in our sinful state, sinners doomed to hell forever! But no!! he didn’t do that..…instead..he chose to leave all heaven’s glory just to be one of us… becoming a man was the only way he could get through us…..he chose to feel the human pain…to identify w/us, so we would know that he knows how it is to be in pain…and he is with us..
(more tomorrow, I’m kinda sleepy na ;p)
just sharing my thoughts on 07 March 2009, 9pm
Yesterday i struggled w/the thoughts between blessing n suffering... i asked how are the two reconcileable?..i wrestled coz when i think of God's blessing.. why does it always come w/suffering….in fact suffering is never absent......after the first, there’s always another one on queue…waiting.. …the blessing comes and so does suffering and that suffering overshadows the blessing….although God has default blessings we know (warm shelter, food on table, protection, source of income..the list goes on).
In times past, i tried to contest the verses that promise answered prayers and Jeremiah 29.11. I grew weary of His promises that I didn't wanna hear 'em anymore. When I bumped into them during quiet time, I just skipped ‘em and shut my senses.
I would pick up my Bible only to put it down. Just then, I remembered the promise the Lord and I made together…. that my relationship with God wilI always be based on transparency and honesty.…so that reminder kinda nudged me. Finally, after some hesitation and remembering that ‘binding agreement,’ I said 'OK God we have to settle this. I cannot go on pretending we're okay when we're not. I need a straight answer to a straight question.'
You see God and I had always had issues and arguments, miscommunication perhaps (when I misinterpret His word).. i begin to hurt when i see his promises do not match the reality.. have you felt and seen things that way? you keep on praying for someone to be healed and the person just keeps relapsing…countless times, the spirit of infirmity just won’t leave….where is the Healer that he promised to be?.. i prayed for someone to be financially free since he has long repented of his mistakes yet he’s still sunk deep in the mire...it's tiring to wait for answers right? ..you prayed and pray for months and years now and there ain't any certainty of answer...old problem, old struggle…when these people hurt you also hurt with them...add to that your own bouts n personal struggle in your Christian walk
how do we reconcile blessing n suffering….how can you call yourself blessed when you're suffering..
i guess there are two roads here
one road for blessing and another for suffering....afer all Jesus said of anyone who wants to come after Him - to deny himself, pick up his cross n follow Him.' Ptr Peter said "Christianity is not difficult. It is impossible." I so agree.
anyway, God is real and wise, he did not answer my question directly but he dealt w/the real issue - my lack of understanding of suffering…..subsconsciously for me, suffering equals punishment all the time….such that when he sends me this, I feel so unloved, unwanted….and i know the truth, but i didn't accept the truth about the real goal of suffering…..coz for me suffering represents an unloving hand of God
I peter 1.6-7, 11 - talks about the goal of suffering…...ohh, God allows suffering not to punish us….Here are my scribbled notes from my journal..
the goal of suffering ---
is to purify our faith (i've always known this, but not always anchored in my heart) after suffering, the blessing will follow – but only after we have allowed suffering to melt off the impurities of our faith ….and then we will become worthy to have supper with the Lamb
Picture this in the Lord's banquet, the residents of heaven wondering when they see those who sneak in without a valid ticket - "how come he's entered in? did he have a pass? Was his faith real? or phony?”
i see now, suffering is related to our faith….God led me to a deeper understanding of it….if our faith is not genuine, we might endure staring, questioning eyes up there….(i'm exaggerating just to make a point, as all saints there have been or will have been bloodwashed by the Lamb). God’s telling us that ‘a tested faith’ is our ticket…it is what qualifies us…
the goal of suffering ---
is to purify our character…..to make us ready to join the banquet of the Lamb…Jesus wants us to be “counted in” on that feast!! with a valid pass of why we are there…no doubting looks from their eyes….no questions asked! we can boldly enter…we won’t feel alienated…we have confidence.
OUR FAITH, OUR CHARACTER...NOTHING ELSE MATTERS TO GOD THAN OUR ALLEGIANCE TO HIM THIS SIDE OF ETERNITY
God’s Spirit says…Suffering is not God’s way of punishing us…he does not delight seeing us in pain....u don’t wanna believe? Me to, before….so here’s the argument.. if he really wanted to punish us through suffering – he could have just let things be…he could have just stayed in heaven, not bothered coming down, not thought of taking on that unimpressive human form, not suffered that excruciating pain on the cross and not died in a shameful way…..he should have just let us stayed in our sinful state, sinners doomed to hell forever! But no!! he didn’t do that..…instead..he chose to leave all heaven’s glory just to be one of us… becoming a man was the only way he could get through us…..he chose to feel the human pain…to identify w/us, so we would know that he knows how it is to be in pain…and he is with us..
(more tomorrow, I’m kinda sleepy na ;p)
No comments:
Post a Comment