Food for Thought

Don’t you just LOVE that the Bible truly does have an answer to EVERY question? I do believe some things are a “mystery” because if we fully knew God’s ways, then we wouldn’t need faith. As Dan and I have talked about some of the tougher issues we have gone through, we can always turn to scripture and there is always an answer on how to deal with it. We may not understand it – nor do I think God wants us to understand always – He wants us to rely on HIM. Not on what He is going to “do” for us. Here are a few verses that I have really found comfort in, yet have been challenged by. I hope for you, that they are an encouragement to you as well.

Matthew 16:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Does that mean that I have to give up all of my desires? I think yes. But, if I am aligned with God’s will, then that process will be easier. Am I saying that our two babies weren’t God’s will? No. But the fact that God took them home, I have to be willing to accept that that was part of His will. Isn’t it hard sometimes to go with the ebb and flow of God’s will? Sometimes it just makes me want to scream “God, what are you doing?” But in those moments, God reminds me that HE is God and I am not. If I want to truly be His disciple, I MUST deny myself and take up my cross and follow Him. That cross can feel heavy at times with the weight of burdens and struggles. Do you ever have times where you think “is this worth it?” Questioning why? But God just says “follow me” and we know that that path may not be easy, but it is worth it!

1 Peter 2:21-23 – To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. So when talking about suffering, I think about carrying the cross – I can only imagine the pain Christ went through. Ours has not compared. Christ set us a beautiful example of how to stick it out – how to get through the tough times – those times when you can walk no further. Christ committed no sin – boy have I failed in that! So many times we have wanted to retaliate. We have wanted the truth to be known. We have wanted to shout it from the roof tops. And yet we still don’t know that full truth of why Dan lost his job. But we know that God is seeing everything that is happening. That He knows our hearts. He knows our heart’s desire. As much as we want to be the ones to judge, we have to DAILY make the choice to let God do the judging. Is that not so difficult? But it is what we need to do.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. I think these few verses answer the question of “why suffering.” Why? So that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. And that begs the question – how good of a representation of that am I? Again, I have not lived up to that perfectly. But what a calling and how excited I am to take on that challenge – to live a life of perfection – to be a Christ follower. God never abandons us. Hallelujah!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. I know I have mentioned these few verses in the past, but what a gentle reminder that our goal is to live for eternity – that our troubles are temporary. Dan and I were just talking this morning about faith. If we did not have faith, we would feel destroyed. We would be in despair. We could let our minds go there (and unfortunately sometimes we do let them), but God is continually renewing us. Dan had just read a few verses from James 1 (3-4) that say: For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. He said “so lets just let it grow. We can try and solve all these issues that we have encountered, but we have to let our endurance grow.” Just let it grow. How do you do that? Dan was saying that it’s confidence in God that leads us there – it’s faith that allows it to grow. I told Dan that I can be self-centered and just want to fix everything – and he said, yeah, there is a point where there may be things we actively do, but we also have to just allow God to work. As we sat talking, I started to think about the fact that we aren’t even living in our own house anymore and Dan doesn’t have a job. That could lower the confidence! But it’s our endurance in Christ, that we have to let grow.

We are excited to see where God takes us. Everyday is a struggle to 100% put our trust in Him. I have struggled with that since I can remember. But that is our challenge – to trust the path God has directed. To carry our cross in obedience to Him.

To keep our eyes fixed on the eternal.