Skip to main content

Bad Reputation...

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18) 

          Suffering has a bad reputation at the moment. Maybe it always has. There are few who want to suffer - not really suffer. I'm no different so I'm not pointing fingers. Suffering stinks. Suffering just because you exist or because you aren't part of the "in" or "PC" crowd is really the pits. Part of the reason for the current bad reputation, I think, is that people don't have good examples for how to suffer. The good examples are out there, but people don't know about them. Instead, our minds are filled with the heroics of those who rise up against suffering and give those who inflicted the suffering a super-sized taste of their own medicine. Karma delivered the victim is the name of the game today, even among some Christians.
         We don't learn from history. Christians suffered under Roman rule for several centuries, quietly, persistently arguing for justice. They suffered so well that the Romans lost their joy in seeing them suffer. Roman bloodlust became shameful. The gladiatorial games ended. The practice of crucifixion ended. There are examples throughout history. Within the past 100 years, the early Civil Rights Movement sought justice for all Americans through civil disobedience and peaceful demonstrations, and brought about huge change for good without raising a fist. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught his followers that the suffering they endured would bring about the glory of a day in which men would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. We now celebrate a national holiday in his honor even though his dream is not yet fulfilled.
          No, it is not good to suffer, but suffering can do good. It can do more good than not suffering ever did. When it does, the suffering isn't worth comparing with the glory of the good that comes from it, by it, through it, or because of it. That good may not be seen in the lifetime of the one who suffers but though we may only see it through a glass darkly, it is worth the suffering.
         
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Birthday of Rene Theophile Laennec (Stethoscope)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more