Week Three - Observation 4

These are some long days in our house - as I've mentioned, Robert has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a very difficult disease to manage when it moves into it's more advanced stages.  And, as with many chronic diseases, there are always other complications that come along with it.  Robert has developed a raging case of thrush in his lips, mouth and throoat.  VERY painful.  And, along with that, he has lost his voice, most likely from the irritation around his vocal chords.  You can imagine the frustration when you're not feeling well and you can't get someone's attention quickly because you now can't talk!  I ask you to pray for Robert that the thrush resolves very quickly and that his lovely voice is restored as well.  I really have always loved the sound of Robert's voice - very smooth and easy to listen to in conversation and really nice when he sings a good ol' Merle Haggard song!  So please keep him in your prayers for this urgent request as well as for his IPF and the challenges it brings.  We pray for healing every night, that is our deep desire, but we also place both of our lives in God's hands knowing that He is our faithful Creator and cares for His children so dearly that He will always do what is best for us.  And His best is always more than we can imagine.

I think when we go through today's passages, we will all feel that we've been pointed toward heaven.  It's hard when we are going through long days here on earth to remember that life here will never be what we wish it to be.  But we have a life coming that will be so much more than we could ever wish for.  We have to hold on to these verses that remind us of where we are heading, and get our re-born eyes focused on the Kingdom of God.  (John 3:5)

                                                       

Remember the question we're posing this week?  Why does God allow people, especially believers in Him, to suffer and why does He permit pain in our lives?

And our verse to memorize:  

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."  Romans 8:18

OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:11-12  "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me.  Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven.  For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Romans 8:18  "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

1 Peter 4:12-14  "Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you.  Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.  If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."

Right off the bat, we're receiving blessing for our hard times on earth.  When I say that Jesus asks us to look at things in an upside down kind of way, this is one of those times.  We don't really like to think about being blessed for undergoing insults, persecution and false accusations, do we?  We'd just as soon Jesus have made it where we receive blessing when people praise us, treat us with favor and tell everyone how wonderful we are - that's what we sometimes think in the back of our mind, isn't it?  That when people say what a great Christian we are, when they ask us to serve on boards and committees because we're so involved in our community, and when they tell others that we are a really shining example of Christian love - God must surely be listening and taking note!  Now none of those things that I just mentioned are to be avoided (unless everything we are doing is just for those human rewards), but Jesus tells us that God's eye is really on the one who is doing all the right things and not receiving man's praise, but just the opposite - this Christian is paying a price for his good works and for his faith.  

"Blessed" in this verse is translated from the Greek word "makarios" - and "It means 'to be satisfied fully'.  This satisfaction comes from God; it does not depend on circumstances."  So not only is the picture of who is blessed a little different than what we would first think, even the state of being blessed may also be different than what first comes to our minds.  

This person who is living his faith boldly in the face of insults, persecutions, and false accusations is also the person who lives life completely satisfied in his relationship with God.  THIS is what enables them to "rejoice and be glad"!  For they know they are following God now on earth, just as the Old Testament prophets did, and they know they will follow Him into their heavenly home to receive His reward for their faithfulness.  There is not a doubt in their mind as to Who they are serving and where He is taking them.  They are completely satisfied and it has nothing to do with what they are having to go through in the here and now.  They have moved beyond earthly circumstances - they are already living in the Kingdom.

Then we come to our memory verse for this week, Romans 8:18.  Our "sufferings of the present time" - they can seem so heavy, can't they?  And they are.  I don't believe Paul is trying to take away from the hard times of life.  Hard times of disease when we see our bodies breaking down and causing us pain; hard times of poverty and hunger; hard times of natural disasters with homes destroyed; hard times of persecution throughout the world where people are being mistreated, abused, imprisoned and killed for their stand of faith.  These are hard times.  And maybe that's exactly what Paul is trying to get us to see --- that even though we see incredibly difficult, painful and heartbreaking times here on earth - the glory that is to be revealed to us is going to be so much more than just "offsetting", it is going to be absolutely mind-blowing glory!  It won't just "make up" for the pain and hardship of anything we have gone through here, I think Paul is saying that it it will be so tremendously wonderful that we won't even be able to think about anything that we went through to get there - we will be enthralled by the beauty and wonder around us when God's glory is revealed to us.   I just don't think there are words - so I might as well quit trying!

We've heard words from Jesus, and from Paul, and now we hear from Peter again today.  Peter tells us that when (not if, when) we face fiery ordeals (trials), not to be surprised - there's nothing strange or unusual going on - this is a testing.  

"The word fiery in verse 12 is translated from the Greek word purosis.  In this passage it refers to burning, the process used for refining or purifying metals, as well as to trials or calamities that test, or purify the character of a person.

"In the same verse the word testing is translated from the Greek word peirasmo.  In this context, the testing is sent by God or allowed by God and indicates trying one's character to prove him or her faithful."

We don't like to think of God sending us tests, or allowing us to be tested, do we?  What happens if we fail God's test?  Are we out?  No - I don't believe God's tests are pass/fail; rather I believe that God's tests are allowing us to grow stronger when we pass, or allowing us to see our weaknesses when we fail.  Either way, God uses them to grow us.  He already knows how we will handle the test - it is we who may be surprised at the outcome.  When we successfully get through a test showing our faith, it is an encouragement to us that we were able to come through, not on our own strength, but leaning on God.  And when we fail, our weakness is exposed - quite possibly a weakness that we were refusing to confront and repent of, and God is there to hear our confession of weakness, repentance and stand us back up to go further down our road of faith and becoming more like Christ.  Of course we all want to pass every test God sends us, but we won't.  There's purposes in both results - the purpose of refinement and purification.  When we understand that, we can keep on rejoicing, and rejoicing and rejoicing - until that day when we see Christ for who He truly is and we rejoice with great joy!

I said we'd be looking toward heaven today - our vision of heaven should alleviate some of the pain of earthly suffering and allow us to keep going forward, keep rejoicing in our Lord, keep marching to Zion!

In His Amazing Love,

Janice