Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB)
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
John 16:20-22 (NASB)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 8:18-25 (NASB)
Last night as I was taking part in Grace Baptist's presentation, Bethlehem Revisited, I had much time to ponder upon a book that I had been reading earlier in the day. The book was entitled Dark Night of the Soul. It was written by one of the doctors of the Catholic Church, St. John of the Cross. In Dark Night, St. John spends much time discussing how the dark nights of the soul are what drive us to the light of Christ. Personally if I never experienced affliction, I could not honestly claim that I would intentionally seek the Deliverer. Similarly, last night it was bitterly cold. My hands and feet still feel like they are thawing out twelve hours later. Needless to say, though the bitter cold was not enjoyable and received much ill will and contempt from me, it caused me to revel in the fire that was nearby. That fire was a beacon in an otherwise bleak and bitterly cold night. That fire was my source of strength and life in a sense. I don't see how I could have endured that night without the warmth of the fire to sustain and strengthen me. Though in retrospect, if it had been 60 degrees out, I don't see how I ever would have sought out that fire. In fact, I can assuredly say that I would have considered myself above the fire, that I had no need for it or desire to bask in its radiance. Many times I see my relationship with Christ functioning in a similar manner. When times are good and the days warm, I really have no desire to seek out the fire. In the same way, when I do not suffer or experience tribulation, I rarely seek God. I grow content with where I am spiritually and do not seek the fire known as Christ for fear of growing too hot or uncomfortable. Though that should not be the case! For when that happens, my religion becomes a religion of luxury, gratification, and general corpulence. My faith becomes stagnant, and in my opinion a stagnant faith is a faith that's slowly dying. Our faith is rather similar to a muscle in our bodies. The only way for it to grow is to properly nourish it and subject it to stress (e.g. exercising). If either one of these components is missing, the muscle atrophies and dies. Our faith is made to grow and be continually refined. Our faith's goal should never be found on this terrestrial ball. Our faith was not birthed for earthen glory. It was destined for an eternity with its Creator. In this fact, we find solace and also in a sense, a new view of faith. For our faith shall never reach its goal this side of heaven. With this being said, the only aim of our faith here on earth is to continually grow and prepare ourselves for an eternal weight of glory.
This leads me to view our suffering in an entirely new light. The dark night of our souls, suffering and a perceived "absence" of Christ (Deuteronomy 31 and Joshua 1 assure us that God is always with us, though at times we will feel like His presence is far from us), should not be viewed as pointless or just something to be endured. That very suffering is purifying us and preparing us for an eternity with Christ. If my chief aim is to be with Christ for an eternity, who am I to say that I want to partake in eternal communion with our Lord and Savior, and yet not want to prepare myself for such a privilege. I imagine it would be similar to playing in the Super Bowl without ever picking up a football beforehand. That would be absolutely ridiculous. That seems to defy every law of nature that we have ever encountered. Those who have played in the Super Bowl have put countless hours and endured terrific pain in their training to have the privilege to play in the Super Bowl. Though in this instance let us suppose the man of our metaphor had been given a gift by the owner of a team in the Super Bowl to play for his team, because he is a friend of the owner. So in reality his place on the roster is reserved. He's got his shot. He's headed to the big time. Nothing more is required of him to play in the Super Bowl than just to accept the terrific gift that has been given to him. But my thoughts are: Why would he ever want to not prepare himself? If he was told in advance that he had an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl, why would he not spend every waking moment preparing himself for such an honor. He wouldn't train because it was necessary for him to partake in the Super Bowl. He would constantly train himself out of love for the Super Bowl. He would be in awe that he would have such an honor bestowed on him, and that awe would drive him to the weight room and the practice field. He would be beating his body in a sense, yet that beating of the body would make him "chiseled, jacked, <insert term for one looking buff here>" aka preparing his body for the Super Bowl. The pains that he would encounter in the weight room would be considered minute to the glory and joy that he would receive once he stepped onto the field at the Super Bowl. How much more so would we feel when we cross through the Heavenly Gates! My metaphor of a man being given the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl is put to shame when I apply it to me being given the opportunity to spend an eternity with my Creator. I much like that man, have been told in advance that I have the opportunity to take part in an something that is much grander than I could ever imagine. Also much like that man, the hard part has already been done. He has been admitted to the Super Bowl, much like Christ's death and resurrection was all that I need to enter Heaven. Christ paid the price for me. All that is required of me is to see the necessity of His suffering and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. But also like that man, why would I want to stop there!?!? Why would I want to be content with just going?!?!? Why would I not want to prepare myself for such an honor?!?! Why would I not want to spend every waking moment lived in the light of my future, namely spending an eternity in Heaven? If eternal communion with The Father is my chief end, then my question is chiefly what am I doing in light of such a grand opportunity? Am I hitting the weights with intensity? Am I running 'til I cannot run any longer on the practice field? Or am I sitting on the couch guzzling sodas and watching the tele? If the man in my story who was given the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl chose not to prepare for the Super Bowl, it would cause me to question whether he really appreciated the gravity of the situation? That he had been given an opportunity to do something that by all rights he could never do on his own: just show up and play in the Super Bowl. How much greater is the opportunity that we have been given, for Christ paid a price for our salvation that we could never pay on our own terms. I cannot begin to imagine the value of such a price, but I do recognize this: I want to live in the light of that sacrifice. Every fiber of my being screams that I do not deserve such an extravagant gift, yet lo and behold, it has been placed before me. All I have to do is choose to unwrap and claim it as my own. And then why would I choose after receiving such a gift to live like I had never received it? One would ask if I really appreciated the gift, if I chose to bury it and live my life in sheer ignorance of the gift. Yet I do the same thing with the gift that Christ has given me. I trudge through life wallowing in my own self-pity, forgetting that this life is only a preparation for an eternal weight of glory. I let my current trials and tribulations consume me rather than letting the Ultimate Gift that I have received consume me.
Many times I forget about the great gift that I have been given. I sit and moan about the suffering that I encounter throughout my life. How odd that is! I cry over the very same suffering that is driving me to Christ. This suffering is not something to be feared or even despised. The suffering we encounter should be nothing than the wind in our sails that drives us, proverbial eternal sailboats, over the waters of life to the realm of Christ. So I leave you with this: run to Christ. He'll know what to do with your troubles.
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalms 55:22 (NASB)
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
Exodus 1:8-14 (NASB)
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NASB)
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB)
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
John 16:20-22 (NASB)
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 8:18-25 (NASB)
Last night as I was taking part in Grace Baptist's presentation, Bethlehem Revisited, I had much time to ponder upon a book that I had been reading earlier in the day. The book was entitled Dark Night of the Soul. It was written by one of the doctors of the Catholic Church, St. John of the Cross. In Dark Night, St. John spends much time discussing how the dark nights of the soul are what drive us to the light of Christ. Personally if I never experienced affliction, I could not honestly claim that I would intentionally seek the Deliverer. Similarly, last night it was bitterly cold. My hands and feet still feel like they are thawing out twelve hours later. Needless to say, though the bitter cold was not enjoyable and received much ill will and contempt from me, it caused me to revel in the fire that was nearby. That fire was a beacon in an otherwise bleak and bitterly cold night. That fire was my source of strength and life in a sense. I don't see how I could have endured that night without the warmth of the fire to sustain and strengthen me. Though in retrospect, if it had been 60 degrees out, I don't see how I ever would have sought out that fire. In fact, I can assuredly say that I would have considered myself above the fire, that I had no need for it or desire to bask in its radiance. Many times I see my relationship with Christ functioning in a similar manner. When times are good and the days warm, I really have no desire to seek out the fire. In the same way, when I do not suffer or experience tribulation, I rarely seek God. I grow content with where I am spiritually and do not seek the fire known as Christ for fear of growing too hot or uncomfortable. Though that should not be the case! For when that happens, my religion becomes a religion of luxury, gratification, and general corpulence. My faith becomes stagnant, and in my opinion a stagnant faith is a faith that's slowly dying. Our faith is rather similar to a muscle in our bodies. The only way for it to grow is to properly nourish it and subject it to stress (e.g. exercising). If either one of these components is missing, the muscle atrophies and dies. Our faith is made to grow and be continually refined. Our faith's goal should never be found on this terrestrial ball. Our faith was not birthed for earthen glory. It was destined for an eternity with its Creator. In this fact, we find solace and also in a sense, a new view of faith. For our faith shall never reach its goal this side of heaven. With this being said, the only aim of our faith here on earth is to continually grow and prepare ourselves for an eternal weight of glory.
This leads me to view our suffering in an entirely new light. The dark night of our souls, suffering and a perceived "absence" of Christ (Deuteronomy 31 and Joshua 1 assure us that God is always with us, though at times we will feel like His presence is far from us), should not be viewed as pointless or just something to be endured. That very suffering is purifying us and preparing us for an eternity with Christ. If my chief aim is to be with Christ for an eternity, who am I to say that I want to partake in eternal communion with our Lord and Savior, and yet not want to prepare myself for such a privilege. I imagine it would be similar to playing in the Super Bowl without ever picking up a football beforehand. That would be absolutely ridiculous. That seems to defy every law of nature that we have ever encountered. Those who have played in the Super Bowl have put countless hours and endured terrific pain in their training to have the privilege to play in the Super Bowl. Though in this instance let us suppose the man of our metaphor had been given a gift by the owner of a team in the Super Bowl to play for his team, because he is a friend of the owner. So in reality his place on the roster is reserved. He's got his shot. He's headed to the big time. Nothing more is required of him to play in the Super Bowl than just to accept the terrific gift that has been given to him. But my thoughts are: Why would he ever want to not prepare himself? If he was told in advance that he had an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl, why would he not spend every waking moment preparing himself for such an honor. He wouldn't train because it was necessary for him to partake in the Super Bowl. He would constantly train himself out of love for the Super Bowl. He would be in awe that he would have such an honor bestowed on him, and that awe would drive him to the weight room and the practice field. He would be beating his body in a sense, yet that beating of the body would make him "chiseled, jacked, <insert term for one looking buff here>" aka preparing his body for the Super Bowl. The pains that he would encounter in the weight room would be considered minute to the glory and joy that he would receive once he stepped onto the field at the Super Bowl. How much more so would we feel when we cross through the Heavenly Gates! My metaphor of a man being given the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl is put to shame when I apply it to me being given the opportunity to spend an eternity with my Creator. I much like that man, have been told in advance that I have the opportunity to take part in an something that is much grander than I could ever imagine. Also much like that man, the hard part has already been done. He has been admitted to the Super Bowl, much like Christ's death and resurrection was all that I need to enter Heaven. Christ paid the price for me. All that is required of me is to see the necessity of His suffering and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. But also like that man, why would I want to stop there!?!? Why would I want to be content with just going?!?!? Why would I not want to prepare myself for such an honor?!?! Why would I not want to spend every waking moment lived in the light of my future, namely spending an eternity in Heaven? If eternal communion with The Father is my chief end, then my question is chiefly what am I doing in light of such a grand opportunity? Am I hitting the weights with intensity? Am I running 'til I cannot run any longer on the practice field? Or am I sitting on the couch guzzling sodas and watching the tele? If the man in my story who was given the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl chose not to prepare for the Super Bowl, it would cause me to question whether he really appreciated the gravity of the situation? That he had been given an opportunity to do something that by all rights he could never do on his own: just show up and play in the Super Bowl. How much greater is the opportunity that we have been given, for Christ paid a price for our salvation that we could never pay on our own terms. I cannot begin to imagine the value of such a price, but I do recognize this: I want to live in the light of that sacrifice. Every fiber of my being screams that I do not deserve such an extravagant gift, yet lo and behold, it has been placed before me. All I have to do is choose to unwrap and claim it as my own. And then why would I choose after receiving such a gift to live like I had never received it? One would ask if I really appreciated the gift, if I chose to bury it and live my life in sheer ignorance of the gift. Yet I do the same thing with the gift that Christ has given me. I trudge through life wallowing in my own self-pity, forgetting that this life is only a preparation for an eternal weight of glory. I let my current trials and tribulations consume me rather than letting the Ultimate Gift that I have received consume me.
Many times I forget about the great gift that I have been given. I sit and moan about the suffering that I encounter throughout my life. How odd that is! I cry over the very same suffering that is driving me to Christ. This suffering is not something to be feared or even despised. The suffering we encounter should be nothing than the wind in our sails that drives us, proverbial eternal sailboats, over the waters of life to the realm of Christ. So I leave you with this: run to Christ. He'll know what to do with your troubles.
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalms 55:22 (NASB)
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
Exodus 1:8-14 (NASB)
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NASB)
