“My Grace is sufficient for you,
For my power is made perfect in your weakness.”
–Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 12:9a)
Most bloggers have blogs they watch. One that I regularly read is from John Eldredge. I just like his stuff. It is often just a very simple summary of ‘where I’m at’ a lot of days.
The last blog he posted was about ‘Old Friends’. He was referring to favorite reads. Those who love to read have books they do call ‘old friends’. I have a few myself. Actually some of John’s books are among those ‘old friends’.
The reason this particular blog caught my attention, was because he was speaking about things not ‘turning out like we thought they would’. I have yet to have anything in my life turn out like I thought it would. I’m sure you’re life is very much the same. Some of us pursue in prayer the course of our lives. Some of us pursue on all things. Some of us pursue on only the important things. Some of us, sometimes forget to ask God altogether.
Regardless, when you do ask God to guide and direct your steps and the course you take, he does. Or even when you pray this for others, friends, children, etc. But it rarely, if ever, looks like we thought it would. What I have often found is that there is much more pain and inconvenience than I ever expected. For some reason, I never do plan ahead for this aspect of living.
Here John talks about one of his old friends, a book by a dead guy Francis Schaeffer. He’s not one of my ‘old friends’ yet. But maybe as I ‘grow up’ he will become one. I’d like to read some of his stuff. For now, I’ve just stayed caught up with one of his second generation ‘pupils’. Here’s what John quoted:
“Both the Scriptures and the history of the church teach that if the Holy Spirit is working, the whole man will be involved and there will be much cost to the Christian. The more the Holy Spirit works, the more Christians will be used in battle, and the more they are used, the more there will be personal cost and tiredness. It is quite the opposite of what we might first think. People often cry out for the work of the Holy Spirit and yet forget that when the Holy Spirit works, there is always tremendous cost to the people of God, weariness and tears and battles.”
It was a consolation. There certainly have been weariness and tears and battles. The consolation was that this is part of the deal, part of what I signed up for when I gave my life to God, and when I asked to be used. The consolation was also Jesus saying, “You didn’t blow it; I asked you to do this. I am in this.” God used the words of this old friend (I had long ago underlined this passage) to speak to me what I needed to hear.
http://www.ransomedheartblog.com/john/2009/05/old-friends.html
Anybody who has ever been ‘called’ to anything will be able to identify with the weariness, tears and battles. Most of the time, being ‘called’ is to do the things that no one but God will ever see. Most of the time we interpret these things that cause us pain as ‘set backs’ or road blocks. Sometimes we even interpret these setbacks as ‘maybe I didn’t really hear from God’. But in reality, they are merely part of what God is using to draw us closer to his heart, heal our hearts and our inept ways of relating to him and others, and make us better reflections of him.
I don’t like pain or suffering or crying any more than the next person. But I have been able to say that the things in my life that have brought me pain, have indeed done much to shape me. I’m also learning that I’m not really a very good judge as to what is ‘good’ for me and ‘bad’ for me. Don’t get me wrong… there are some roads that I would never want to walk again. But as long as I keep forgiving what appears to be to my human eyes as the perpetrator, I grow deeper and softer into Christ. And I understand more and more what it means to possess the bounty of His Grace.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
–an ‘old friend’ named Paul
(2 Cor. 12:9b)
