One more quick thought

Romans 8:28 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

My good friend and I talked about this verse last night.  Most of the time people only quote the italicized part and leave off the second part.  But being called to God's purpose means being called to be like Christ.  That includes torment, temptation, and suffering.  As Christians we must face those trials and try to handle them as best as we can, as Christ- like as we can. 

Many times we sin and think "if God really loved me, He wouldn't let this happen to me."

That thinking is flawed.  First, God never promises someone a life free from pain.  So don't make the mistake of thinking that God has abandoned you when hardship enters your life.  secondly, the presence of hardship in your life does not imply the absence of God in your life.  To the contrary, you can be sure that God is there and wants to revel Himself to you when you are experiencing difficulties.  God is with you when the going gets tough, but He's a perfect gentleman.  He won't carry your load unless you ask him to. 
Excerpts from God is in the Hard Stuff p. 13-15

Thank you to my dear friend Amber for this book :)

Jesus suffered.  Jesus was tempted.  To be more like Him, we must endure like Him.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 18, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    This is very revealing. As a former Navy pilot from the 60s/70s U would like to post this on some Navy listservs. I would also like to attribute it to the author.

    Dennis Hughes
    St. Petersburg
    dvhughes@mindspring.com

    ReplyDelete

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