Thursday, July 22, 2010

In Response to Pain

Scripture Verses that caught my attention today: 1 Peter 1:5-6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Observation: One can find ways to value various forms of suffering.

Application: In the Gospel of John Jesus once says: “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.”

It has also been said, though not in Scripture, that when someone asks “Why me?” they should also consider the question, “Why not me?”

And when the going gets tough in the fourth quarter of a football game and there’s precious little time left for a final drive, some people live for such situations (regardless of how they come out) because they recognize that it is that very type of opportunity for which they’ve been training all along.

I feel better today than I felt yesterday, though it’s clearly gonna take a little while for me to feel really good again. This morning when I had all kinds of pain in my arm, I thought I had taken a step back in terms of recovery and I was a bit discouraged. I don’t think God caused me to have that pain or anything. But it nevertheless was a good test of the ‘genuineness’ of my faith. Surely such times offer opportunity for seeing the world differently, for finding ways to embrace the struggle of the moment in light of the promised joy to come when our Lord returns.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the ways you shape me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included: Isaiah 36-37, Psalm 76, 1 Peter 1)

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