2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
In writing this series, the Lord has dragged me (at times, kicking and screaming) to face the difficult issue of endurance in faith. None of us likes to think about suffering and to face the questions of whether we would endure challenges to our faith and how. Yet, that is what our Abba makes us do for our own good. We must deal with this painful subject because we are participants in the Covenant of Grace, and God wants us to take that narrow, rough road that leads to eternal life. The Lord wants us to know that we are not alone either in having to deal with endurance and strength of faith or the only ones having to deal with it. To help us understand, He gave us the story of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles who described Himself in RO 1: 1 as “a bondservant of Christ set apart for the Gospel.”
Yesterday, I mentioned 2 COR 11: 23-33 and want to cite it here. It is Paul’s own recitation of the suffering he went through. “Are they Christ’s servants? I sound like a mad man-but I am a better servant that they [false apostles] are! I have worked much harder. I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. Five Time I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from fellow-Jews and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, danger in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. And not to mention other things, every day I am under pressure of my concern for the churches. When someone is weak, then I feel weak too, when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress. If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus-blessed by His name forever!-knows that I am not lying. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him” [AC 9: 23-25].
If I didn’t say another word and someone read this account out of context, one might assume Paul is spoiled and having a major temper tantrum. But we all know there is much more to his story. Paul’s escape from the governor’s guards was no accident. The hand of His loving Abba was in it all the way. If God was there for Paul, He will be there for us when we face suffering. All we have to do is follow Paul’s example and endure in our faith. Not easy, but then we were told in MT 7: 13-14 that the path that leads from the narrow gate would be a hard one. We are allowed a view into the gorgeous faith that had long before been settled by God in Paul’s soul. In 2 COR 12: 1-4, Paul begins talking about a Christian man who fourteen years before was taken up into heaven. It isn’t clear whether this was a vision Paul had, a revelation from the Lord or a first hand account of an event. However, Paul reveals how we don’t suffer without the Lord’s presence or His help to us to endure.
I COR 12: 5-10, “So I will boast about this man-but I will not boast about myself, except the things that show how weak I am. If I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will not boast, because I do not want anyone to have a higher opinion of me than he has as a result of what he has seen me do and heard me say. But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan’s messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked Him to take it away. But His answer was: ‘My grace is all you need, for My power is greatest when you are weak.’ I am most then to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the power of Christ’s protection over me. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” RO 5: 3-4, “We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God’s approval, and His approval creates hope.”
Long ago when Saul’s son, Jonathan entered into a covenant with David to protect him, you will remember that he gave David his robe, belt, and sword to symbolize the sealing of this covenant [1 SAM 18: 3-5]. God was very much involved in this. The belt was a symbol of strength here. Jonathan kept his word never knowing that his faithfulness had extraordinary long-term ramifications. By preserving David’s life, the royal line was preserved from whence Jesus Christ came. His strength of faith and obedience to God even when it meant betraying his father, Saul’s, confidence stands as a good example of pleasing God by doing His will. Isaiah addressed the question of enduring in faith knowing we are not abandoned by God at any time during our distress in one of my favorite citations, IS 40: 31. “But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.” As participants in the Covenant of Grace, we have access to the strength to endure in our faith that God gives us. All we must do is not to forget that and to turn to our Abba in faithful obedience. His hands and hearts are outstretched to us.
PRAYER: O Lord, in Your infinite wisdom, You lead us to dwell on the subject of suffering [no matter what form it takes], so that we will get in idea of Your perspective on it. This is painful and difficult, because it forces us to deal with challenges to our faith, ones in our lives which bring us pain. To help us understand, You have given us the stories of many people’s suffering in the Scriptures, particularly the apostle Paul’s. You never abandoned any of them the whole time they suffered, Through Paul’s suffering, You enabled him to do amazing work for You. We can have little doubt that Paul is honored in heaven even more than he suffered on earth. You work to break our pride and bring us to brokenness, so that we are willing to believe what You have been teaching us. You tell us over and over again that You will never abandon us if we will endure in our faith. It is time for us to believe You and act on that. Your approval of us is what matters most. The trust we place in You is trust in the One Who loves us the most and is always righteous. You sacrificed Your Son Who suffered more than anyone for us. We dedicate ourselves to not making that a sacrifice in vain. We approach You in humility to confess our sins and to offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
I am led to go on writing about this crucial subject tomorrow and to share some Scriptures that support my assertion that Paul is honored in heaven. God’s love is with us when we suffer pain, disappointments, betrayal, disrespect, physical assaults, calamity, imprisonment, and any other kind of negative status when we endure in our faith. Our Father in heaven wants us to face whatever challenges the enemy presents, knowing that He has equipped us to come out ahead. When the adversary attempts to make us miserable and cause us to abandon our faith are thwarted, we can celebrate victory and know that God has revealed His glory through our trials. That is one way that our Abba shows us the love he has for each of us. We mustn’t forget that endurance of faith leads to forward motion in the process of sanctification. It puts us on that narrow road to eternal life. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn