This and That – Suffering 083112

Eph 3:14-19  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  (15)  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,  (16)  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  (17)  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  (18)  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  (19)  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ok, read this verse s l o w l y.  Read it again.

Now, “for this reason.”      Now read Eph. 3:3-13.    Wow!

Eph 3:13  So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

I subscribe to a Christian Professional’s Prayer page on LinkedIn.  To tell you the truth, it’s a hard link to handle. There are so many brothers and sisters all over who are suffering and struggling in, at least what to me, are horrible circumstances. 

Now email sand posts are really poor ways to “communicate,” but in reading these posts I can feel the pain and anxiety.  Maybe it’s a misspelled word, a letter missing or confusing grammar but there are signs of the struggle they are in.

Now – looking at this passage – especially verse 13 I have to wonder if part of God’s providence in our hard times is for the benefit of others.  I really feel it must be or why else does He so intimately record the struggles of the motley crew that went before us.  If David, a king and God’s anointed can lay on His bed in utter anxiety – why not me?  If Paul can suffer as he did, why not me?  If Job can be subjected to all he went through, why not me?

Ok – I’m taking this kind of out its context but I really believe that: 

these things took place as examples for us,

that we might not desire evil as they did.  1Co 10:6

I am also drawn to that part of Hebrew 11 we rarely really consider:

Heb 11:36-40  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  (37)  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--  (38)  of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.  (39)  And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,  (40)  since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

NO !!!!  I am not saying, “It could be worse,” no way.  But what I am saying is that if God was faithful to them through all of this – He will not fail us!

There is no “upside,” to being stoned, sawn in two, or killed with the sword – unless we really hold on the hope of heaven! 

In Triumphing Over sinful Fear, John Flavel addresses our attempt to “reason” our way through troubles – even life threatening ones:

“This carnal reason is the thing that puts us into such confusion of mind. (1) It quarrels with the promises and shakes our confidence in them (Ex. 5:22–23). (2) It limits God’s power and assigns boundaries to it (Ps. 78:20, 41). (3) It draws desperate conclusions from providential appearances (1 Sam. 27:1). (4) It sets us upon sinful courses in an attempt to save ourselves from danger (Isa. 30:15–16). (5) It divides our thoughts and flows into our hearts (Ps. 94:16).”

Flavel, John (2011-12-27). Triumphing Over Sinful Fear (Puritan Treasures for Today) (Kindle Locations 1293-1296). Reformation Heritage Books. Kindle Edition.

This is one tough book written at a time when believers had suffered so many agonies and privations.  No, not by Rome in ancient days but in the 17^th century.

“The matter is debated between faith and fear. Oh, what endless work does their fear impose upon their faith—to solve all the “buts” and “ifs” it raises!”    

Flavel, John (2011-12-27). Triumphing Over Sinful Fear (Puritan Treasures for Today) (Kindle Locations 1325-1326). Reformation Heritage Books. Kindle Edition.

“Who enabled Christians in the past to endure such things? They loved their lives. They sensed pain just like you. They had the same thoughts and fears. Yet God carried them through it all. He can do the same for you.”

Flavel, John (2011-12-27). Triumphing Over Sinful Fear (Puritan Treasures for Today) (Kindle Locations 1468-1469). Reformation Heritage Books. Kindle Edition.

I recommend this book as a challenge to that fear which God would have us refuse.

Paul wrote:

Eph 3:13  So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

And I ask, “For whose glory (referring to other believers as Paul does) is my present suffering?” Who shall be encouraged, strengthen perhaps even led to the Lord through the Spirit by the suffering I now endues for His sake?

We all want to read or hear about a Job, but few of us (me included) ever want to be one!

A debtor - high and wide!

COME THOU FONT OF EVERY BLESSING

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

What a  wonderful hymn.  Those oldies are truly goodies.

I was thinking of how great a debt I owe His grace and I began to thnk of the people he has brought into my life who have been consistent sources of His encouragement and strength.  Of course I’ve written about my Grandmother, Grace Sanders, but the other side of the family gets equal time.

My aunt Jean and uncle Marvin (uncle Mama) have been a source of example, encouragement, challenge and hope.  If I was even to attempt to chronicle all the ways they have served Him and the difficulties they have faced it would be much too long for a mere blog.

Suffice it to say that as I look back I see their influence even when we were far apart and in little communication.  When the phone rings and Caller-ID displays their name my heart leaps and I grab the phone.  I know it will be a blessing.

Their “ministry” will probably never be recorded anywhere and platitudes may not come their way but I know in heaven they will know, more than they know now, what a blessing their faith has been to many in many ways.

You know it’s funny how in looking back for blessings the detail I can remember of the ministry in my life.  I was enfolded by Jean and in awe of Marvin.  Their witness in my life is perhaps one of the most consistent and comforting.

They always believed in Him “for” me.  What I mean is that no matter mess I found myself in I KNEW I was always in their prayers – even when I kind of resented it.  I also knew that no matter “how” I was, I always had a home to run to and be cared for.  For a long time as I tried my best to outrun God I kept running into them – they were kind of His angels in my life.

Jean gave me a Bible once (of course at the time I scoffed).  In the fly-leaf of the Bible she wrote:

The inexhaustible supplies of God

Are available

To the man who is available

To the inexhaustible supplies of God

I cannot count the times that quote has come to my mind and refreshed and steadied my heart.  Although at the time it bore little significance to me its hope and promise has come to mean more and more as Patti and I serve Him.  One thing it has done it to make me aware that He knows what of His inexhaustible supply I need – I usually don’t.

So, I thank my God for them.  I praise my God for them.  Though they may not know how very much He has done through them in our lives, we and He do.  Certainly I first thank and praise Him but I am compelled to thank and praise them – for being willing and determined to be part of His inexhaustible supply to Patti and I.

So, as they are a part of His grace in our lives, our debt grows higher and wider.

Thank you Lord for Aunt Jean and Uncle Mama ;-}}}}!!!