In Life of Christ, we often get asked a general question, and then a question about the nature of Jesus based off of a Biblical passage. This is what I wrote on tonight:
Prompts: How do you feel about the "garbage" that has come your way so far in life? Which happens more often- the garbage influences your view of God, or your view of God influences your view of the "garbage?"
There has been a lot of garbage. Lots and lots of garbage. From having to deal with early deaths and close betrayals, many have told me that I've already had to deal with too much. But I am a firm believer that God would not let us be tortured with more than we could handle. I am often encouraged by the faith that Job shows when God allows Satan to utterly destroy everything He holds dear on the earth, from the trivial to the most dear. Still He hung on to God, because what else is there. I feel the same way. Rarely do struggles make me want to reject God, though it does happen, and I certainly question Him, but I hold onto Him and trust. Each difficult experience has been manageable because I know that something good will always come from it, and this has been shown to be true every time, even if it takes a long time to see how. God works in amazing ways, and when it comes down to him, my trust of him allows me to see each bit of garbage as a blessing in disguise... eventually..... with a lot of difficult processing.... but hey, I'm not perfect at all.
Romans 12:9-16
How does this passage related to your responses to life's challenges?
What connections could you make between the life (and birth and death) of Jesus and this passage?
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
This is very difficult to do when things get difficult, but that is what I try to do. I think the most difficult part is the "loving your enemies" part. I can often trust God to get me through difficult things, but that does not mean that I do not harbor resentment, and have a difficult time with forgiveness. Jesus, on the other hand, with the insult of every sin against God (himself) ever, got the ultimate punishment for the ultimate forgiveness. Wow. He is the ultimate embodiment of this passage.
Interesting question about the garbage! I think my view of garbage and my view of God probably affect each other, to some extent. But I also think one's point of view can be a choice. A choice influenced by attitude and circumstance, maybe, but a choice nonetheless. I do my best to let my view of God rule over my view of garbage. Your Job example is a great reason why this is useful -- just because you don't get it right now doesn't mean God's left you.
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