My step-dad was in hospital again, he
has reached that age where his body is starting to fail, if it is not cancer it’s
something else. The rules of life’s arrangement reaching a climax, which we
will all eventually confront; the throes of death looms for all for we are born to die!
Sin has taken care of that!
Along the journey of life we have been
taught to seek out quick and easy fixes; people gravitating towards new diet
pills and the like, just as long as it works without too much effort. “Quick
and Easy” a way of life for many! Something totally contrary to ongoing
sanctification in Christ for the Christian; God does not work with “no more
nails” as an easy alternative, the lessons we are taught along life’s journey
is painstaking and carries with it many tears. But God who is rich in mercy is
persistent with His children and continues to nurture us even when we are
brazen! We have to “learn obedience through suffering”, this is the only way we
will learn true obedience. “Although he was a son, he
learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he
became the source of
eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews
5:8-9) - A very foreign concept to our
natural understanding but perfectly worked out in God’s brilliance. We must remember that God is perfect in
everything He does; “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) - This means that there
can be no better way to learn obedience! Suffering through the trials of life
will work out perfect obedience when it has run its course, Wow! When our minds
are unable to reconcile certain truths, this does not mean we should not believe
the written Word of God. In fact faith demands our commitment to the Word of
God, if we oppose it in any way all that proves is our unbelief!
Our lives should not be filled with
quick and easy fixes, although we are always looking for them. We ask brothers for
10 step programs and even our pastors teach us application through their
ministry. “Give me a list of what to do” is our cry! Many believe that if we
follow a list we will achieve true obedience. Surface Christianity will never
take us any deeper; our lives must become saturated with the gospel; it is
about life and then some as we believe in our perfect Father God to work it out
in our lives. HIV, cancers, heart attacks, unemployment and the grind of life
are all working for our good and the Word is very clear on this. It is time for
us to start believing the actual Word of God over our own pathetic suppositions
and all the negativity of erratic voices from a dying world.
It is important that I qualify this thought;
it is only for the good of those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.
To those who have been called by the most High. If there are those who have
rejected the message of the gospel then the same things that work together for
our good are working together for their destruction. Nevertheless God is glorified
through both, molding and fashioning the universe in accordance with His sovereign
will. The sooner we learn to accept this reality the happier we will be. Everything
we see unfolding through life, both the good and the apparent evil will always
end up glorifying our God! How do I know this? Because He is perfect, and
perfection cannot be tainted in any way, even though I may not understand it
completely, this changes me and not God, praise His glorious name now and forevermore, Amen and Amen! Faith demands our loyalty to this truth!
Here is a verse that proves my point; “And we know that for those who love God all things
work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) - Therefore the lovers of God have a journey
to march and at times that excursion will get rough, but whatever happens along
the way, it has been designed for our eternal benefit. Yes even death, disease
and retrenchment are all working together for the believers good and to the
glory of God. Faith demands that we accept this truth even when our mind
through circumstance wants us to believe something else.
Just before I am misunderstood, I have not ever
implied that if we have cancer we must not acknowledge our cancer and blame the
disease on unrepented sin in our lives. We must not be chumps! It is no more
than a lie, false doctrine and a ploy from Satan. God forbid we even think like
that! We must all eventually learn through our most difficult times to give
God the glory for everything that happens; it is for our good! Did you know
that Elisha, the man who received a double portion of the prophet Elijah blessing,
died from a sickness, which had nothing to do with the sin in his life. Sickness
may result from disobedience in our lives, but not always! Remember Job! And
even if we are dull of hearing hardships and illnesses are often there to teach
us to open our ears as we learn to depend upon our God and not to rely on our independence,
which we have all in some form or another been hoodwinked into believing that she
is our kin when in fact she is the enemy. True Faith depends on God and takes
Him at His Word; it does not rely on our independence to get us through any
given situation, this type of reasoning proves unbelief and we must repent from
it!
Signing off
Tyrone