It’s been a minute since I last wrote a post. I appointed my daughters to write up the last couple, just to give me a little break! But I’ve been praying about what to write about, and what came to mind most is the topic of suffering.
What do you mean by that?
Suffering can mean a lot of different things to different people. But the suffering I’m referring to is the suffering that is God ordained. And is just straight up hard. I think a good analogy is the process of attrition with rocks. In order to get a really smooth rock, a bunch of pointy, crazy looking rocks are thrown together into a mill. The mill then rolls around, mixing the rocks together. But it’s more than just mixing. The rocks are hitting each other to the point that all of their rough edges are rubbed down. Then voila! Nice smooth rocks.
I definitely have felt like a rock on a mill. Can you relate? It seems to me to be part of the sanctification process. It is uncomfortable and often hurts. But at the end of the day, we are better for it and ultimately, it will bring glory to God.
Leviticus and the Bible Recap
Following Christ is not easy. It was never promised to be. I’m currently doing the Bible Recap again this year, and we just got through Leviticus. I’ve got to be honest, Leviticus is tough. There are only so many details my mind can handle. And my word, that book is chock FULL of details. But if you take a step back, there are a couple of things that really stick out.
First, it HAD to have been gross. As in super disgusting. As I was reading each grisly chapter about all of those bulls and birds and goats being sacrificed, I kept thinking of the smell. And did anyone ever clean up all the blood that was sprinkled everywhere? What about the blood on the priestly garments? Did they just leave the blood there?
And second, those bulls and birds and goats had to have added up. Going to the temple must have been a financial sacrifice for most of the Israelites. Can you imagine the temptation of giving the lame, sickly animals rather than the healthy ones?
Why was it gross and costly?
My take is that yes, the process of all those sacrifices was gross. But so is our sin. It’s that gross, THAT disgusting. Our sin causes death (Romans 6:23). How thankful should we be for Jesus? He took the full brunt of that suffering that we deserve on His shoulders. He bore it so we wouldn’t have to.
And of course, there is definitely a price to following Jesus. It may not show up on a financial statement, but you better believe, there’s a cost. Our family and friends may not understand why we now want to honor the LORD with our lives. We may get fired for refusing to bend to certain demands made on us. I love how Voddie Baucham once put it (and I’m paraphrasing): “The “tolerant” refuse to accept my intolerance (i.e. of sin).”
Worth it all
But we all need to be reminded on the regular – He is worth it. I’m reminded of those who are suffering greatly around the world. Did you hear about the 70 men, women, and children who were recently killed in the Congo? All killed for their belief in Christ.
Or the 21 men who were also beheaded, one by one, by ISIS 10 years ago. There was recently a movie produced depicting what happened.
I’m also reminded of The Heavenly Man. What an incredible story of courage and sacrifice through tremendous suffering for Christ. I read that book years ago, and I still remember how powerful it was.
God is good, even when it’s hard
No one wants to suffer. I certainly don’t, and I especially don’t want my children to suffer. But I also know that my LORD loves my kids even more than I do. I know that He does all things well, even when I don’t agree or understand. I’ve been around long enough to know that when I’ve suffered for obeying Christ, it stinks in the immediate. But it has always ended up being for my good, and His glory. I can trust it will be the same story for every one of us.
And for those times when I still don’t understand why in the world certain things happened the way they did, I know I can still trust Him. I think of Paul sitting in prison, probably hoping he prepared Timothy well enough to continue preaching the Gospel. He was alone, but resolute before he was martyred. He knew he was obedient, and that’s all that mattered to him. I’m certain Paul had no idea what incredible fruit his letters and suffering would bear.
I pray that whatever suffering you may be experiencing, you know that you are not alone and that many have gone before you, are with you currently, and will be in the future. I love how Paul puts it when referring to suffering:
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Amen?
