While sin and the enemy of our souls will cause us pain and suffering,
God still allows us to endure some measure of suffering and loss because
those hardships are fulfilling His greater purpose...to redeem us and
conform us into His image. These hardships cause us to loosen our grip
on the things of this world so that we may instead cling tightly to Him
alone. (Gift #921) Our brief and momentary trials in this life may frustrate us or
feel like "forever", but they are nothing compared to the eternal glory
for which we wait and for which those very trials are preparing us to
enter. (Gift #922) Like the experience of childbirth, great physical pain is
required to usher a beautiful new life into the world. I love this
perspective because it reminds us that every trial has a purpose, though
we may not understand it at the time. Every good and perfect gift
comes from the Lord, but can we accept that trials may be gifts, too?
I have a dear friend who has waited 18 years to remarry. She courageously raised her children by herself, but as single moms are tempted to do, she was "looking for love in all the wrong places." Then after seeking soul satisfaction in every spiritual outlet from Catholicism to Zen Buddhism, she starting reading Christian romance novels (which I think are generally a bad idea for Christian women because they set up false expectations and minimize the fact that love and marriage are always first and foremost intended to give glory to God not to each other). I met her over 12 years ago at the gym. She was reading romance novels on the elliptical, while I was reading my massive study Bible on the elliptical next to her. We began meeting regularly and talking about matters of life and faith as we did our cardiovascular workouts side-by-side. She told me of her divorces and how she had been a single mom for 10 years. I could tell she was searching for a soul need, while stuffing her heart with affairs with married men who made empty promises she believed as they used her only for her body. Dazed and confused, she began to listen to me as I shared my story and my faith, though I was 10 years younger, newly married, and had no children, so I could not speak with experience or full empathy having never walked in her shoes. Yet, our conversations continued. (Gift #923)
She began visiting a nearby Bible based Baptist church (the last place this stark raving liberal ever imagined she would land), and God pursued her relentlessly. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior shortly after she began attending this church (Gift #924), and her son soon followed in a profession of faith (Gift #925). She believed and accepted everything she was reading and being taught from the Bible (for the first time) EXCEPT for the passages about sexual immorality. She wanted Jesus, but she also wanted her bed companions. She was rigid in this area for a time. Yet, the Spirit kept reshaping her heart and changing her desires. She came over one day to talk, so we took my infant daughter on a long stroll so we could talk without the awkwardness of staring into each other's eyes as sensitive subjects were raised. She was so tired of being single and wanted a good man to marry as opposed to her previous husbands. I asked her to describe the attributes of her ideal man and then challenged her to consider what type of woman would attract him. She really pondered that question, and then the "Aha" moment came. She realized that she would never find the man God wanted for her by sleeping around with married men, and as we talked more about what physical intimacy represents inside a marriage covenant, she began to realize that God's word on the matter was for our good and that perhaps she could learn to accept that teaching as well. (Gift #926) For truly, anyone who professes to accept Christ, yet rejects any part of his word, is not a Christ follower at all.
Before I knew it, she had sold or given away most of her belongings and packed the rest in her car along with her teenaged son and was moving to California without a job or a place to live. She's got some courage, that girl. California seemed like the darkest place on earth for a new Christian to call home, but God placed her into a fabulous church family where she grew in faith, knowledge, and wisdom. (Gift #927) She wrote me about 6 months later to say she had made a commitment before God to stay abstinent until she marries again, and if she doesn't ever marry again, she will trust God with her desires, knowing His will is best. (Gift #928) Without a doubt, my precious friend was now born again, saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ, for only His saving grace could change her so radically. She faced many struggles along the way, but she did her best to keep her commitment not out of self will but out of trusting that God's ways are best and by relying upon His strength. I always smile when she contacts me for my opinion on the next guy who asks her out to get my approval. I can't meet him face to face, but she gives me as much information as possible to help her be discerning as a Christian father should for his daughter. After seeing firsthand how strong my marriage with my husband is, she trusts me to help guide her, even though I am 10 years younger. What a special privilege! (Gift #929)
Eight years to the day after she accepted Christ (this past Sunday), she sent me news that she had just received a marriage proposal from God's man for her. Hearing that wonderful news on her spiritual birthday totally reinforced the day's lesson on waiting, trials, and redemption! (Gift #930) Waiting has a purpose, and while her marriage proposal is a gift worth much rejoicing (Gift #931), her greater gift is the close relationship with her Savior (Gift #932) that has been forged through the testing and years of waiting. Her marriage will be so much richer with Christ first in their lives before each other. Christ's purpose is always to redeem us and to prepare us for eternity! (Gift #933)
I have a dear friend who has waited 18 years to remarry. She courageously raised her children by herself, but as single moms are tempted to do, she was "looking for love in all the wrong places." Then after seeking soul satisfaction in every spiritual outlet from Catholicism to Zen Buddhism, she starting reading Christian romance novels (which I think are generally a bad idea for Christian women because they set up false expectations and minimize the fact that love and marriage are always first and foremost intended to give glory to God not to each other). I met her over 12 years ago at the gym. She was reading romance novels on the elliptical, while I was reading my massive study Bible on the elliptical next to her. We began meeting regularly and talking about matters of life and faith as we did our cardiovascular workouts side-by-side. She told me of her divorces and how she had been a single mom for 10 years. I could tell she was searching for a soul need, while stuffing her heart with affairs with married men who made empty promises she believed as they used her only for her body. Dazed and confused, she began to listen to me as I shared my story and my faith, though I was 10 years younger, newly married, and had no children, so I could not speak with experience or full empathy having never walked in her shoes. Yet, our conversations continued. (Gift #923)
She began visiting a nearby Bible based Baptist church (the last place this stark raving liberal ever imagined she would land), and God pursued her relentlessly. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior shortly after she began attending this church (Gift #924), and her son soon followed in a profession of faith (Gift #925). She believed and accepted everything she was reading and being taught from the Bible (for the first time) EXCEPT for the passages about sexual immorality. She wanted Jesus, but she also wanted her bed companions. She was rigid in this area for a time. Yet, the Spirit kept reshaping her heart and changing her desires. She came over one day to talk, so we took my infant daughter on a long stroll so we could talk without the awkwardness of staring into each other's eyes as sensitive subjects were raised. She was so tired of being single and wanted a good man to marry as opposed to her previous husbands. I asked her to describe the attributes of her ideal man and then challenged her to consider what type of woman would attract him. She really pondered that question, and then the "Aha" moment came. She realized that she would never find the man God wanted for her by sleeping around with married men, and as we talked more about what physical intimacy represents inside a marriage covenant, she began to realize that God's word on the matter was for our good and that perhaps she could learn to accept that teaching as well. (Gift #926) For truly, anyone who professes to accept Christ, yet rejects any part of his word, is not a Christ follower at all.
Before I knew it, she had sold or given away most of her belongings and packed the rest in her car along with her teenaged son and was moving to California without a job or a place to live. She's got some courage, that girl. California seemed like the darkest place on earth for a new Christian to call home, but God placed her into a fabulous church family where she grew in faith, knowledge, and wisdom. (Gift #927) She wrote me about 6 months later to say she had made a commitment before God to stay abstinent until she marries again, and if she doesn't ever marry again, she will trust God with her desires, knowing His will is best. (Gift #928) Without a doubt, my precious friend was now born again, saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ, for only His saving grace could change her so radically. She faced many struggles along the way, but she did her best to keep her commitment not out of self will but out of trusting that God's ways are best and by relying upon His strength. I always smile when she contacts me for my opinion on the next guy who asks her out to get my approval. I can't meet him face to face, but she gives me as much information as possible to help her be discerning as a Christian father should for his daughter. After seeing firsthand how strong my marriage with my husband is, she trusts me to help guide her, even though I am 10 years younger. What a special privilege! (Gift #929)
Eight years to the day after she accepted Christ (this past Sunday), she sent me news that she had just received a marriage proposal from God's man for her. Hearing that wonderful news on her spiritual birthday totally reinforced the day's lesson on waiting, trials, and redemption! (Gift #930) Waiting has a purpose, and while her marriage proposal is a gift worth much rejoicing (Gift #931), her greater gift is the close relationship with her Savior (Gift #932) that has been forged through the testing and years of waiting. Her marriage will be so much richer with Christ first in their lives before each other. Christ's purpose is always to redeem us and to prepare us for eternity! (Gift #933)
After writing out these thoughts, I came across this quote which serves as a good motto:
“Seek not to avoid a wounded life, but rather seek to avoid a wasted one.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment