"May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy."and it has stuck with me all semester. Endurance? Check. I can do that, even when it's not easy. Patience? Well, ok, I can be patient. Sometimes. The original meaning of patience in the Greek text is "long suffering; steadfastness." Paul's prayer for the Colossians, and God's desire for us, is that we would be patient in suffering, not wishing it away. I'm learning to be patient, knowing full well that when I see the glory of the Lord it will be worth it. But what about this joy? Patience...with joy? This has been a conviction all semester!
What does it look like to be patient with joy? How often do we complain when things are difficult or when circumstances don't go exactly according to plan? That brings no pleasure to God. I'm reminded of the example Christ has set for us. Hebrews 12: 1-2 says,
Christ endured so much adversity in his life, and it culminated as he approached the cross. But he looked beyond the cross and was able to see how God was going to use it to accomplish his great work in bringing many sons to glory.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
"For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering." Hebrews 2:10It was through this suffering that Christ was made perfect to carry out God's redemptive plan! What a reminder. What an encouragement. Looking to Christ, the author and perfecter of my faith, I can be confident that God is using adversity in our lives to bring about his glory.
Romans 8:28-29 has been a constant encouragement as well:
"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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."We can rest assured that God is at work bringing all things together in accordance with his pleasure and will. And he never allows anything to occur that is outside of his will. So why all this adversity? Why would a good and loving God allow so much heartache? Couldn't he have prevented the deaths of my parents? Surely this was not beyond his sovereignty. Christ was made perfect through suffering, so who am I that I should expect to avoid it? God intends that I be conformed to the likeness of his Son; I can't very well circumvent the means by which I am conformed to be more like Christ, can I?
On this topic Jerry Bridges writes,
"The good that God works for in our lives is conformity to the likeness of His Son. It is not necessarily comfort or happiness but conformity to Christ in ever-increasing measure in this life and in its fullness in eternity.
We see this same thought in Hebrews 12:10, 'Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.' To share in God's holiness is an equivalent expression to being conformed to the likeness of Christ. God knows exactly what he intends we become and He knows exactly what circumstances, both good and bad, are necessary to produce that result in our lives.
The purpose of God's discipline is not to punish us but to transform us. He has already meted out punishment for our sins on Jesus at Calvary: 'The punishment that brought us peace was upon him' (Isaiah 53:5). But we must be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ. That is the purpose of discipline."
~Trusting God
I've got to run, but there's still so much more God has been doing! I'll write again soon.
