Another Thought

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him

and cause him to suffer, and through the Lord

make his life a guilt offering, he will see his 

offspring prolong his days, and the will of the 

Lord will prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:10

 

Reading along in the book of Job and studying my In Christ's Image lessons has interesting parallels. Although Job had not yet been introduced to the promised Savior in his day, so he was not aware of how Jesus paid for our sins with his life.  Still I can see the connection of how God allows tests in our lives to prove our genuine desire to be like Christ, to have our lives transformed by the renewing of our minds and characters. It's one thing to "talk" about living for Christ, and quite another to actively "live" the life. It's about being authentic, a thought we've visited before.

We become angry at the sin and evil in the world, and we justify it by saying that Jesus got angry and chased the moneychangers out of the temple, so it is okay for us to be angry.  But let's look at the scripture - Ephesians 4:26 says, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

All of us become angry at times, upset over situations that we are unable to resolve. Francis Frangipane shares that it is particularly upsetting when the one for whom we have been praying suddenly turns on us. While this is disappointing, stand strong, because God is using this as an opportunity to grow your faith in Jesus. Think about it....  When the very people Jesus fed, prayed for, and encouraged turned on Him, how did He respond?  As He endured the agony of the cross, as His blood was being sprinkled out as a guilt offering, what did He say? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  So too, if we truly, genuinely desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, then this should be our response.

What particularly struck me about the teaching was that if we continue to "hash over" the things in our mind and in our conversations with others, what is upsetting us or the offense against us, then we are being hypocritical or two-faced, and the love of God is far from us. We don't like to think about it, but I see the subtle line here, and I have been so guilty of nursing and rehearsing, but not reversing. I may even pray, "Father, forgive them...." yet what happens to the "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." 

How many times do we pray the Lord's Prayer without really acknowledging the meaning of the words?  "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."  We are praying for heaven to be here on earth. Did you catch that?  Sadly, to many this prayer has become rote, repeated without understanding the actual intent of the prayer. Much like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 we miss the point. Perhaps that's why God keeps bringing me back to this passage of scripture. He wants me to truly see and understand how it is to be applied to my life as I am being transformed into Christlikeness.

God goes to such great lengths to perfect us in every day situations. Francis is fond of saying, "an imperfect world is job security for an intercessor."  Hopefully, I quoted him correctly, but if not, you get the point. James say, "the perfecting of our faith works patience," and we are to allow patience to have it's perfect work in us.

Sometimes I don't feel up to the challenge, but apparently God must have more confidence in me than I do in myself.  So as I'm muddling through my transformation process, it is my prayer that I recognize the opportunities for what they are - opportunities to demonstrate the love and forgiveness of God, and in so doing, planting seeds for His Kingdom come right here, right now.