Not Easy, But Good
Check this out..."...There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV
Tonight I listened to a friend tell me about his relationship with his fiance. He said the only way they know how to make their relationship work is by depending on God for its success. And I thought, "How Beautiful!" How blessed they are, that the only way they know how to love each other is by depending on Christ for it.
Then I go home and read this section out of Corinthians. Wham! Hit between the eyes. I can't help but think that God gets a kick out of reverse pyschology. Here's the concept he pitches to us so many times...
"Sean. If you want something amazing, here's what you do. Give it away. Yeah, that's right, give it away. Give it away to me. And I'll return your gift/sacrifice with what you REALLY want. Something so much sweeter you couldn't have planned it better yourself."
Here's the 2 places this reminds me of.
1. John 12:24-26. Go read it. See while Christ tells us to give even the little things to Him so He can give us something back even better, the ultimate way he calls us to do this is with our lives. John 12:24-26 is amazing. You must check it out.
2. Proverbs 19:21. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." And my response to that is, Thank You God. B/c here's the 3 situations that are possible when it comes to my plans vs God's plans. 1-I make my plans and they fail, and I've got nothing to show for it. 2-I make my plans and succeed. Sweet, I get what I think I want. 3-We seek God's plan for the situation, or for our life as a whole, and He blesses us with it. We get to live in the plan our Creator, the one who knows us better than we know ourselves, designed for us. Can it get any better than that? No. B/c if He is God, then He knows what's best.
Here's what I hate. This idea that God is this god who somehow isn't about seeing us live life to the fullest. That's what God's message was totally about. God wants the best for us. John 10:10. God never promises that life will be easy. He never promises that. But he does promise that it will be good. He does promise that it will be worth following Him.
Life God's way. It's now always easy, but it is good.
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