“For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened," He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
PSALM 36-37
David praises God after making a fool of himself...
39The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
ACTS 23:1-11
Paul causes the the Sanhedrin to be split...
6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)9There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
JOURNAL
Paul continues to be single-minded and strong as he is being questioned. His brilliance is due in part to his upbringing which serves him well in speaking to the Sanhedrin, but obviously he is being guided by the spirt.
God then comforts him and lets him know that he has future days ahead and that he will survive to also be heard in Rome. The amazing thing about this is that Paul is absolutely resolute in knowing that his life is completely in the hands of God. He also knows that by putting his life in God's hands he has put his life at risk. To me there cannot be any clearer example of the meaning and sacrifice of following Christ.
There are times when life sometimes feels pointless, like I'm just running in the same spot. Sometimes it's hard to see the point of it all...yet when I see Paul it becomes clearer. This realization has both troubled me and given me great hope. It troubles me in the sense that following God is not some guarantee of safety and "success". As it is proved time and time again...it can actually cause more immediate heartache and danger. Yet to know that the spirit of God counters all selfishness and gives a peace in a time of absolute loneliness and persecution proves the goodness and power of God. To see that Paul continues despite being in the hands of people who hate him...people he was raised to respect and was once one of is amazing.
I think in the end it is in the joy of following...not the outcome. To trust that the outcome will be to glorify God...to trust that despite the effect on me and my life that God will make it good can also feel unfair. "Where are my mary Jane's" "where is my reward"? In this life the reward may only be the peace that comes from living life serving God. The reward may only be the journey itself. I may not see the effect of obedience, I may not find rest and reward here...yet that has to be ok. I am promised God's love, I am promised his peace during difficulty. I am promised that my life will have purpose and meaning. I must trust that if that is the path...it will still be greater than a life of selfishness...no matter the outcome.
God then comforts him and lets him know that he has future days ahead and that he will survive to also be heard in Rome. The amazing thing about this is that Paul is absolutely resolute in knowing that his life is completely in the hands of God. He also knows that by putting his life in God's hands he has put his life at risk. To me there cannot be any clearer example of the meaning and sacrifice of following Christ.
There are times when life sometimes feels pointless, like I'm just running in the same spot. Sometimes it's hard to see the point of it all...yet when I see Paul it becomes clearer. This realization has both troubled me and given me great hope. It troubles me in the sense that following God is not some guarantee of safety and "success". As it is proved time and time again...it can actually cause more immediate heartache and danger. Yet to know that the spirit of God counters all selfishness and gives a peace in a time of absolute loneliness and persecution proves the goodness and power of God. To see that Paul continues despite being in the hands of people who hate him...people he was raised to respect and was once one of is amazing.
I think in the end it is in the joy of following...not the outcome. To trust that the outcome will be to glorify God...to trust that despite the effect on me and my life that God will make it good can also feel unfair. "Where are my mary Jane's" "where is my reward"? In this life the reward may only be the peace that comes from living life serving God. The reward may only be the journey itself. I may not see the effect of obedience, I may not find rest and reward here...yet that has to be ok. I am promised God's love, I am promised his peace during difficulty. I am promised that my life will have purpose and meaning. I must trust that if that is the path...it will still be greater than a life of selfishness...no matter the outcome.
37They were put to death by stoning;e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
~ HEBREWS 11:37-40
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