Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Oh, have I offended you? Good!

God's timing is always perfect.  Cliche, yes, I know.  But so incredibly true.  This verse could not have stumbled across the pages of my Bible at a more perfect time.  Second Corinthians 12:10 says, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I believe the Lord allows us to go through circumstances in life for a very specific reason.  Often, for me, I don't realize the purpose of the circumstances until they have passed.  I would assume this is the case for most people.  Lately, that very thing has happened.  I found myself being consumed with worry about a particular situation in my life that quite honestly, feels very hopeless.  You know what I mean?  It feels as if the situation is not ever going to resolve itself, is never going to get better, and the people involved in the situation are never going to change.  Make sense?  Welcome to my world.  As a result of my involvement in this particular situation, I have made myself susceptible to heated conversations where I have been heavily criticized and judged.  I have had to defend my husband after him being blamed and attacked for no reason whatsoever.  I have also found myself having to defend myself on issues that haven't and may never make sense to the other parties involved.  And the thing that has been the most painful has been my having to defend my faith, my Lord, my Redeemer.  CAN ANYBODY OUT THERE RELATE?

After talking this out with my husband the other day, the Lord ever-so strategically brought me to the verse mentioned above.  I know when we follow the Lord and live our lives according to His will, He blesses us immensely.  But I also realize that when we follow the Lord and live our lives according to His will, we will, because of our faith, face persecution.  It comes with the package.  It's part of the deal.  And shouldn't we embrace the difficulties, the insults, the hardships?  It only means we're right where we belong.  This serves true even when those who are closest to us hurt us, as well.

It is my prayer that I will NEVER act outside of God's will for my life.  And I hope that everything I say, do and think will first pass through the filter of God's voice in my life.  I want, with desperation, for His Holy Spirit to reside in my heart.  For I believe that living a life consumed with Christ will bring blessings, peace, pain and difficulties.  That is what a life of faith looks like.

So, if you think I am over the top with this Jesus stuff, good.  If I offend you with all this Bible talk and God this and that, well good.  Hallelujah!  If me making decisions based on the plan He has for my life bothers you, insults you, or annoys you, sorry.  Respectfully I say to you, get over it.  He makes the calls in my life and living a life centered around Him is how I choose to roll.  That is all I truly want.  Don't you?

So when the insults come, bless God.  When the hardships happen, bless God.  When the persecutions shoot at you like flaming arrows, bless God.  When you feel your weakest, bless God.  For when you are weak, then YOU ARE MADE STRONG.  For His power is made perfect in weakness.
Linds

3 comments:

  1. Well said, Linds!! I agree with you 100%. Thanks for the reminder and Hang in there! You are blessed!

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  2. And I should add that just because someone claims to be a Christian does not make them perfect, holier than thou or incapable of ever sinning again. Being a Christian means that I have someone I am held accountable to for everytime I mess up and because of what Christ did for me on the cross means I have been forgiven and get to spend forever with Him in Heaven. I still mess up. I still hurt people's feelings. I still say and do things I shouldn't. But I have been forgiven. I will be forgiven. And because of His presence in my life, I pray my tendency to screw up gets smaller and smaller. I just want to please Him. You know?

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  3. AMEN!!! That deserves all capital letters! I completely agree with what you said and have experienced EVERYTHING you said as well. But Oh how God is so good! I'm thankful for HIS plan and not mine. I know that He has a plan for each of us and that plan is not always the same for everybody.... He made us all uniquely different, but I think people forget that sometimes.
    Thanks for posting this. What an encouragement and reminder!

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