2002-01-01
The Lord directs me to go on writing about endurance of faith as a necessary requirement of successful participation in the Covenant of Grace. Yesterday, we looked at Paul’s suffering as wonderful example of remaining faithful and obedient under very stressful conditions. My guess is that none of us knows just how much endurance we have until we are tested, so I don’t want to give the idea that this can be known ahead of time. However, I will assert that if we will seek God’s help and demonstrate willingness to put up with less than ideal conditions for His sake, we will be amazed at just how much endurance He gives us. The fact that He has promised us that we are equipped to be successful in whatever spiritual warfare the adversary has to offer tells me this. Being faithful to the end, even if that end means one’s own martyrdom, is what God wants us to do. Easier said than done. Let me review a part of a citation from yesterday that illuminates how God works in situations where we are in pain and/or under duress. 2 COR 12: 9-10, “But His answer [to Paul’s prayer to remove his pain] was: ‘My grace is sufficient, for My power is strongest when you are weak.’ I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then He is strong.” If we examine our own experiences with suffering, we will see the truth of this fact. When I was feeling powerful all those years I was raising a child and working for money, I was spiritually starved. I never even knew from whence those growing and gnawing needs were arising or how to address them. How could God work in me when I was under the impression that I was in control and could be the source for my own needs and those of the people around me. My human agenda was taking up all the room in my vessel, squeezing out any for the Holy Spirit! Then, God decided He would take action, which I now know He did, because He loves me. In what seemed like a flash, our lives in Georgia ended and we came to Minnesota. God made it clear to me that He wanted me to being doing something else with my time-serving Him. He gradually brought me to the congregation Peter and I are in and to a full-time ministry. My soul was being fed, and I began to be aware of His presence in my life. Little by little, I was realizing that it was He and not I that was the source for all things. My human agenda was taking a definite back seat to that of the Holy Spirit. When Peter was out of work for almost two years, I was brought to brokenness. That was when God really went to work! I was finally weak enough for Him to use His strength. I learned to rely on Him and to wait (albeit not as patiently as God would like) for His perfect timing. At my lowest point, God came through big time! Today, my life, my work, and my friendship are dedicated to Him, as well they should be. PHIL 4: 13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” Imagine that! If someone like Paul who suffered as much as he did can say that for himself, then surely we can say that for ourselves. This is God making good on His part of the Covenant of Grace, the part where He tells us that we are equipped to endure whatever test comes our way and be victorious in spiritual warfare. Our part is to believe that and act on it. And what about these tests, challenges to our faith? God makes that clear in 1 COR 10: 13, “Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.” How much clearer can it be? And what about Paul? 2 TIM 4: 6-8, 16-18 sheds light on what happened to him and what God would do about it. “As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a righteous life, the prize which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day-and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for Him to appear…no one stood by me the first time I defended myself; all deserted me. May God not count it against them! But the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength, so that I was able to proclaim the full message for all the Gentiles to hear; and I was rescued from being sentenced to death. And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into the glory forever and ever! Amen.” We should remember that faithful people have been rewarded throughout the Scriptures with knowledge of what was to come. Daniel was given that knowledge, and so was Paul. If we are faithful, then we will also know God’s protection and provision, just as Paul does here. We need to examine our lives to see if we are enduring in faith as we face whatever challenges to it that come our way. We must rely on God and remember that He is rooting us on to victory and equipping us for it. PRAYER: O Lord, You have promised us in RO 8: 28 that “in all things God works for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.” It is often hard for us to remember that when we are in pain, have suffered a great loss, or are under whatever form of duress that the adversary sends our way. Yet, remember it, we must! When our faith is deep and honest, we will not only be strengthened by You through Jesus Christ, but we will know You are giving us a chance to mature spiritually bringing us closer to eternal life. We will know that You are ever consistent and ever righteous, that we can not only turn to You but rely on You. Despite all the pain that he felt, Paul knew that to the very end of his physical life. Anyone who is Your faithful and obedient servant will know that no matter what challenges to his faith he faces or what time in mankind’s history his physical life occupies. That is how You are commanding us to know it too. When You bring us to brokenness, You are not being evil, but instead, are presenting us with the opportunity to demonstrate the depth of our faith and willingness to be obedient. When we pass that test, we may be assured we have taken more steps toward the goal of eternal joy and fellowship with You. That test is one more manifestation of Your profound love for each of us. For that, the death of Your Son on the cross for us, and so much more, we humbly offer You our worship, adoration, loyalty, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen. Tomorrow, I am led to take one more look at the way God keeps His part of the Covenant of Grace. When we review what He does and continues to do for us, there is no reason we should be anything less that a fully observant participant in this remarkable covenant ourselves. Afterward, our Abba directs me to look at covenants as a solemn, binding agreement. Everything God does is based in His righteousness and love for us. Can we say that about ourselves? Meditate on this and know that a day never goes by that God abandons us or stops loving each of us. Peter and I send you our love too. Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn