Week Four- Observation 5 and Wrap Up

We've had some busy days with doctor appointments and some sweet visits with our niece from Richmond VA.  It seems that anything extra thrown in to our routine tends to throw us a little off course for the day!  When you get so used to pretty much nothing going on, anything seems like a lot!  :)  But thankful to report that yesterday's doctor visit showed that Robert's thrush is subsiding.  We have seven more days of IV therapy and, hopefully, we'll be rid of that problem!  Then we hope that we can get back to having a little more energy and feeling better so that we can enjoy the cooler days that we just know are coming soon!

We started this week asking the question of how does suffering in a manner that honors and glorifies God change the life of the believer?

And our memory verse this week?  "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  James 1:2-4

Today we're going to be in the book of Hebrews as our final reference to this question.  Let's dig right in!

OBSERVATION

Hebrews 2:18  "For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested."

Hebrews 4:15  "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin."

Hebrews 12:1-3  "Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won't grow weary and lose heart."

What verses of great support are these passages from Hebrews!  We can feel Jesus walking beside us in our times of trial, and not with a spirit of expectation of perfection, but a spirit of understanding of our weakness - because He knows just how hard it was for Him to go through these hard earthly times.  And He knows that we are so much less.  And He loves us as He walks with us and tells us that He is there to help.  

Make no mistake about it - Jesus was tempted.  Jesus, in His humanity, felt the temptation that satan held out before Him.  What person (and Jesus was a person!) wouldn't prefer to live in a comfortable home with family surrounding them rather than as an itinerant preacher, drawing a scraggly band of 12 disciples as His companions to travel with Him throughout the countryside, with only a stone for a pillow?  What person wouldn't prefer to see his children and grandchildren grow up around them rather than to die at 31 with no heirs to leave behind.  And what person wouldn't prefer to be held in earthly honor rather than to be hung on a cross to die a hideous death in shame?  

Jesus, was a person - He felt these temptations.  And He remembers just how strong those temptations were to Him, as Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph.   But Jesus was also the Son of God, and His divine mission overruled His temptations.  What does that mean to us, as His followers?  It means that we can know that Jesus truly understands and that He is whispering to us, "I'm here - I know - let me help you through this time.  Don't give up, don't give in.  It will all be worth it."

Leading into the next passage in Hebrews, Hebrews 12:1-3.  Here we have that great picture that I love to see in my mind:  all those who have gone before us, cheering us on to the finish line!  I see my parents and grandparents; I see Christian brothers and sisters who have been wonderful examples to me; I see the great pillars of faith from the Old Testament heroes, the Apostles and all the great Bible teachers that have followed since.  I see them all - but most of all I see Jesus standing at the ribbon, holding His arms open wide to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" when I cross that line.  Are there any greater words we can hope to hear?  

When we see that picture, doesn't it encourage us to get rid of everything that we are holding on to that's slowing us down, that's a weight around our ankles as we head toward home?  

Quoting from our study book, "The Greek word for race is agon, from which we get our word agony.  The race of faith can be agonizing.  It demands discipline and perseverance.  Following Christ is not a fifty-yard dash but a marathon - and it demands our all."

We cannot expect to run our this race, this marathon, well if we are still tangled up in the world and the temptations that it continually offers.  When we get tangled up like that, we come to a standstill in our progression towards the finish line.  We have to throw off, lay aside, everything and anything that hinders our progress and run on.  We have to be ready, just as Jesus did, to endure the hostility of non-believers.  And we do this by keeping our eyes on the finish line and the One who stands there - our Jesus, our Friend to the end; the One who is our greatest encourager.  He is cheering us on!  And when we stumble along the way, He is the One reaching down to pick us up and say, "Get back on track and let's go home!"  

                                   

WRAPPING IT UP!

This week we started with Job and ended with Jesus!  Our question was how does suffering change the life of the believer.  How do you feel we've answered that question?  Again, I'd sure love to hear your thoughts!  

Here's what I've come up with:

1.  Suffering establishes God's sovereignty in our lives and allows us to understand both His power and His love in a deeper and more intimate way.

2.  Suffering allows us to prove our faith to ourselves - God already knows our hearts, but sometimes we need to see just how deep our faith really goes.  Faithfulness through times of suffering does just that.  And there is blessing in that knowledge.

3.  Suffering refines our faith - it gets rid of the "fluff and stuff" and allows us to see what faith in God is truly about and what God wants to see in His children.  Trust and obedience.

4.  Suffering shows us that we can rest in God no matter what our circumstances.  When we come to the point that even in suffering we can truly rejoice, then we have gotten to a great maturity level of faith.  That's when we can know that godliness with contentment is GREAT gain! (1 Timothy 6:6)

5.  Suffering reminds us that we do not suffer alone - Jesus is our example of suffering toward the goal of sitting beside His Father in glory. We have many others who have suffered for Jesus and they are all experiencing great blessing now.  We keep our eyes on Jesus - the author and perfecter of our faith.  He is our goal!  We will see Him face to face at the finish line!

What else?  I know I haven't covered it all!  Please let me hear your thoughts.  I am so thankful that we are racing together - even when it's hard; no, especially when it's hard!

In His Amazing Love,

Janice