Sufficient

JAN 10 - JAN 16 2010   SUFFICIENT   ISSUE 136

This week's 'C is rather long and void of the usual banter and jokes. It's something that's been on my heart, though, and I wanted to share it. If God uses it to help you in some way, then A-Men. If you choose to skip it and just check the week's agenda, I won't take any offense. The Vitamin C has always been a reflection of my reaction to messages, quiet times, and current events in my life, and this week's is no different. I just appreciate having the format to share it and you accompanying me along the way.

THINGS TO NOTE: Family Group Midweek // Devo Event Friday // Men and Women's devotionals on Sat // Sunday Singles Breakfast at 8:00 at MSC

WINTER RETREAT NOTICE!- Only two weeks till the Winter Retreat. Woo!!!!!!!!!! Practice your luge techniques, Donovan. This year we need more speed and I think technique is the key. And maybe those tiny suits they wear... but, uh, we'll skip those and pretend it's just the technique.

THIS WEEK:

Monday -  sips at our souls like a thirsty giant. I have no idea what that means...

Tuesday-  Pray for clairvoyance (the intuitive knowledge, not the supernatural power)

Wednesday – Family 7:00 Midweek at Dave and Michelle's

Thursday – Check on your progress for any goals you made for this year.

Friday- "Word Play" Exhibit Devo at the Museum at 7:30. Travel/parking arrangements will be made at midweek to avoid the parking charge. Possible party at Mike's afterward.

Saturday – Men's Devotional - Details TBA // Sister's Devotional at Young's at 9:00

Sunday - Singles Breakfast at 8:00 at the MSC. I'll email the list of what you said you'd bring. Normal 10:00 Sunday service afterward

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2 CORINTHIANS 11:24-27 - NIV (Click to Read): Please Read First

This is a small glimpse into the life of Paul. That's the life a man, devoted to God with every fiber of his being, lived. Would any of us dare argue that we are more dedicated, more faithful, more spiritually active than him? So why then do we look at trials and hardships in our lives and feel as if we deserve better? As if we're being punished or neglected and that God isn't living up to "His end of the bargain"? Are the struggles we're enduring even half of what he went through? For us they're difficult, pain is relative to one's own experiences, I understand that, and it's hard to put in perspective at times. But at some point we need to take a step back and look at what Godly men and women endured and realize we need a reality check. If he didn't spare such an incredible servant, a man who wasn't officially an apostle, yet was so righteous he's better known than 3/4 of the actual ones, why do we feel as if God should spare us from far lesser pain, trials, suffering, and hardships?

I have never found any scriptures that indicate we are promised anything here in this life but to have our needs met if we seek first the kingdom of God. We have a promise of eternity in Heaven and tremendous rewards there, but nowhere do I find anything about gaining a life with few struggles by taking up my cross. And even what we consider our needs may be up for debate with God. We may think we need three meals a day and eight hours of sleep at night, but He may think we need one meal every three days and three hours of sleep at night.  Clearly God didn't think Paul needed what we would consider "essential."

One may then wonder, "So is life supposed to be miserable then? Just one struggle after another? Am I supposed to be happy as I bounce from one punch in the stomach to the next?" My answer to that is simple: misery is a decision. They way you view those situations and how far you concede to the emotions they can evoke determines your mindset, not the situations themselves. I never once, in all the writings available to us about Paul, get the idea he felt neglected by God, that he was miserable for his trials, or that he lived a joyless life. We know he petitioned God to take away at least one thorn in his flesh, and I can imagine it was probably done with some very powerful, passionate prayers. Yet God, in all his power, wisdom, and love, would not concede.

Do you think it was easy for God to say no? Does a parent take pleasure in watching their child struggle through a situation in life, knowing they could easily step in and fix the problem? Absolutely not. But what does the child gain if the parent always steps in and saves the day? How will they ever grow, gaining the wisdom, strength, and durability only trials can instill?

Perhaps we know that, though, that trials are necessary. The scriptures tell us often that God disciplines those He loves. So maybe that's not our struggle. Maybe we just want to know when does the "learning" end? Or why does there have to be so many struggles?

I don't have all the answers as to where or how to always keep a positive outlook at every moment. I don't know when the trials we're facing are something God's trying to teach us, and when they are just a repercussion to living in a world with the gift of free will, where one person's decisions can directly and vehemently affect the life of another. It seems to me that early Christians, and especially Paul, had eternity in their hearts and fed off of struggles, using them as fuel to hate this world and long for the next. I know that set them up for success given what many of them faced. But I also realize trials and difficulties can be very powerful and consuming, and sometimes it seems like a promise of a glorious eternity isn't enough. It should be, but our minds are bogged down with what we know and often trapped in the here and now. Future hope doesn't always cure our current ailment.

There is something else I know as well. This man who endured so much, and who still had more to go, viewed his life like this:

2 CORINTHIANS 12:10 - NIV (Click to Read)

And if I claim to be a Christian, just as he did, a man whose life far surpasses mine, how can I react any differently? If God's grace was to be sufficient then, shouldn't it be now?

I constantly pray for understanding about trials, but I remember Job, a far more righteous man than I never got an answer to his. I pray for them to lesson, to have "learned what I need to", but I remember Paul, an iconic Christian, had no end to tribulation. I pray for strength to keep going, remembering they made it, so I can as well. I pray for joy in this life, no matter what transpires, remembering how joyous the apostles were, even from prison while recovering from severe beatings. And I pray to do what Job, Paul, and so many other greater Christians have done in times when the world is caving in, threatening to crush my spirit; I pray to trust God, who from intense studying I know without a doubt loves us beyond anything I can comprehend. I believe that He has given me a way to press on, the capacity to be courageous in trying times, the motivation I need to endure, and the opportunity to show a world that loves to sulk in it's own sorrow that there is something better waiting, something so powerful out there it can bring a person through the ugliest of life's atrocities without destroying their hope, faith, or joy. That a person can have their life torn to pieces and everything they know taken, but still press on, fighting that good fight and determined to finish the race.

The world chooses to be bitter, a Christian chooses to inspire. The world chooses to doubt and be insecure, a Christian embraces their faith, trusting in the unknown. The world cripples under tragedy and focuses on themselves while crying out for sympathy, a Christian stands and leads, focusing on the needs of others and tending to the tears of those in agony. The world has no bright spot, embracing negativity and dashing the hopes of the mourning, a Christian remains positive, breathing life into a hopeless situation and lifting the spirits of the tragic-stricken.

We are Holy, separate from this world, and it's time we start behaving as such. Otherwise the greatest question Jesus ever asked may have an answer none want to give.

"Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He comes?"

Brett "May His grace be sufficient for us" Hibbler