As old men and women in Christ do we mentor those who are young and are yet to understand the ways of Jesus? Do we take them under our wing and teach them humility, patience, service, mercy, and all the wonderful characteristics of life… the life of our Lord Jesus? Do we speak to them of the commandments of God, and Jesus, then show them what obedience looks like in our own lives? If we do these things then we become their spiritual mothers and fathers. This is who Paul became to Onesimus.
How long are we capable of waiting on a promise before we begin to doubt in it? How long will our faith remain firm in God’s promises before at last we falter in our trust, and question Him? In today’s society we are not conditioned to be patient or long suffering, but patience is a virtue that God requires of us, and gives us. Neither are we taught true perseverance, and are unable to remain firm in our efforts, and to to serve Him for very long with only the promise of a reward, before our suffering wears on us, and we give up. But our God is faithful and true; His Word, and promise, is unwavering so we must teach ourselves through prayer and the reading of scripture, how to increase these virtues within ourselves, and how to suffer thankfully as we wait on Him… for He will provide, and His promise is even now being worked in His due time.
As men and women we have an idea of what our purpose in life might be, we know our own desires and mold it around the pleasure we find in them, but that imagined purpose is worldly, self-gratifying, and a fantasy. However, as Christians we spend a great deal of time listening and seeking the greater purpose that God has for our lives, and in trying to understand how His love, combined with His will, and our earthly suffering, leads us to His very real purpose in our lives.
Do we work the soil of our faith, not just till it, but work into it fresh compost, leaves, and other nutrients? Do we dig out the rock that lies just beneath the surface, and make rich, deep, soil out of what once was shallow and of little use? If the seeds of faith are to mature, and thrive, they must have good soil to support their roots. So how deep was the soil beneath us when we first believed, and is it fertile enough to support the roots of our growing faith? Are we working as much on the soil beneath us as we are in the planting of the seeds we want to grow?
We want to live easy happy lives, but trouble always seems to find us. In the midst of them we cry out to the Lord for relief, and to have mercy on us, but these are the very times that strengthen us most, and prepare us for what lies ahead in our service to God. David would not have been the king that he was had he not first faced Goliath, been pursued by King Saul, or lusted for Bathsheba, and faced the repercussions of that sin. All of the hard things in our lives temper us, and by going through them we are made stronger. We are not made stronger BY our distress, but IN it.
How do we look to God in our times of trouble? Do we pray to Him for help, and faithfully continue in those prayers for His deliverance in spite of our suffering, or do we blame Him for allowing such a predicament to have befallen us? Do we believe that He is there with us, and stand firm in the courage that His promise provides us, or do we fall prey to a feeling of abandonment, and quake with fear? Let’s ask ourselves this question again… How do we look to God in our times of trouble?
It is important that we not let our faith become routine, or mundane. When everything is good, and the challenges are few it is easy to slip into that place where we take God for granted, and where what once was exciting has become normal. We never want to lose our sense of awe, or sight of the glory, that we find in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When waking up each morning to the newness of God we don’t want to feel like it is just another day!
We tend to think that just because we can identify the process by which we are conceived, and born, that we are the makers of our children, but this is far from the truth. What pregnant woman ever says that today she shall form the baby’s lungs, or it’s tongue, within her body? What father decides to give his future son his eyes, or his daughter her sweet disposition? When, in the few minutes of sexual pleasure in which his essence is transferred, did he consciously decide this? We are simply the donors of parts, and the eggshells, but we like to take credit for God’s handiwork that occurs within it. Why then do we claim ownership, and not give the Lord the full credit and glory for the miracle that has formed us? Don’t we see the maker’s mark in all things?
As we read the book of Jude we are reminded of what will occur within the world, and the Church, in the final days. We are told about fallen angels, and the presence of false teachers. Further, we are reminded of what awaits them when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to judge. But in Jude there is hope, and encouragement for all those who come to, or continue to follow, our Lord Jesus. Today we see the scoffers in the world, and we feel the heat of an approaching fire… but we are also assured of the glorious eternity that awaits those who remain firm in their faith, and glorify God, and our Lord Jesus.
Sometimes Jesus gives us tasks in life, and we struggle mightily to accomplish them, but do we really understand what our efforts are meant to teach us? We might think that it is about feeding hungry people, but then come to realize that it is more about loving them, or, He might ask us to row a boat across a lake against a strong wind when the real purpose of the effort is to show us who He is when we see Him walking by us on the water. We each need to look at what we are struggling to accomplish in our faith, and find the true lesson within it.
As we pursue our faith we find that there are two basic types of people we can associate ourselves with; there are those who make us stronger in our belief, and those who dull our righteousness, or lead us into temptation… thus causing our faith to falter. So who do we surround ourselves with? Who do we call our friends, and are they like whet stones that sharpen us in righteousness, and faith to a fine edge, or hard rocks that we are swung against, and who dull us? Who is it that we call friend, and who calls us their friend?
Not being satisfied that God breathes life into us in our mother’s womb, mankind struggles to know how He makes life happen so that we might somehow consider ourselves to be more, and God to be less. Yet, for all our searching, and striving to be Him, we have been unable to put life into a single creature, much less ourselves. The nearest we have come is to manipulate God’s building blocks, but even so the life within them is His. As believers, are we satisfied with what God has physically made us to be, and are we willing partners in our spirituality; helping to make righteous the intangible character that He desires to perfect within us?
We think that we know what our bodies are capable of doing, but do we really? What we actually know is what our physical bodies can do by themselves, and without the help of our faith in God. Jesus died on the cross, and by all the laws of nature that should have been the end, but it wasn’t; He rose from the grave. Peter walked on the water when Jesus called to him, but we all know that it is impossible for a man to do that… or is it? As long as Peter trusted in his faith he did the physically impossible, but when his faith ceased to make walking on the water real… he sank. What do we believe our bodies are capable of? Can we rise from the dead, walk on water, or perhaps enter a room by passing through its walls? Do we see our bodies, and Jesus, through the spiritual eyes of our faith, or are we limited to the physical eyes of Thomas?
We go about our daily lives, and they are full of trials and tribulations. We look out at the world and think that if we could somehow separate ourselves from it we would grow stronger in our faith, when in fact the opposite is true; we grow stronger in the midst of our trials, and see the face of Jesus most clearly from the summit of our suffering. We see the foul deeds of the world clearest in the darkest and deepest parts of the world, because it is here that God’s light shines brightest to illuminate them, and His salvation reaches out the furthest to redeem us from them.
As Christians we would like to think of ourselves as being mature in our faith, but sometimes we behave more like children by repeatedly asking the Lord “Why?”. When we don’t like what He has asked us to do, or don’t understand His reasoning, then we begin to ask “Why?” over and over again. If someone were to ask us whether we are trusting and obedient when God speaks to us, we would say yes, but our constant questioning of Him indicates otherwise. Do we behave in this manner?