HEART MATTERS

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55: 9

It wasn’t until I read the book of Isaiah that I fully understood the Sovereignty of God.  I think up until that time, although I had been a believer for many years, I thought that the difficult places of my life were either the result of chance or perhaps the consequences of my sin.  We all have them-those ongoing struggles that persist year after year with seemingly no end in sight.  Those areas of our lives where we just can’t understand why God hasn’t answered our prayers even though we have been praying the same prayer year in and year out.  We all have those places that causes us to feel weak, weary, and desperate for deliverance.  Like a kid strapped in his car seat against his will “we want out!”  At times we feel like we can’t stand another moment of that difficult person, that unbearable circumstance, or that dire situation.  We refuse to accept the dysfunction, the brokenness, the disease, the addiction, or the illness.  And yet whatever it is we’re dealing with it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.  Unwanted as it may be, it continues to be a part of our life’s journey.  Some days it’s bearable, but others, it’s just downright cruel.  Those are the dark days when we feel as though we are being beaten, broken, and under an oppression that clouds every space of our being.  We cry out to God knowing He hears our prayers and yet He allows the painful thorn to remain.

For a while we subconsciously reason that God must not know about this.  He had to have let this slip through the back door because there is no way He would allow something so difficult in our lives. Surely such a good God would not want us living with something that can be so devastating.  As we mature in our walk with God and begin to understand and accept His sovereignty we start to realize that HE is fully aware of what’s going on.  We’re able to grasp the fact that nothing enters into our lives without first passing through His hands.  But now we struggle to reconcile His undeniable goodness with His unwavering willingness to allow such a travesty continue on in our lives.  We find ourselves at an impasse of sorts-convinced of God’s goodness yet at a loss for why He would allow us to continue to suffer.  As such we get stuck, unwilling to accept what seems to be a part of His perfect will for us.

The struggle is real!  For many years I’ve wrestled in this area of my journey with Christ.  Like a spoiled daddy’s girl, I just couldn’t understand how my loving, all knowing and all powerful Father could possibly be okay with seeing His daughter suffer.  Don’t get me wrong, as a believer I understood that the Christian life would not be easy.  I also accepted that I wasn’t exempt from the tests, trials, and tribulations believers can endure here on this earth.  My problem arose when my trial went on and on; when it became a regular part of my life with no end in sight.  My struggle began when I realized that I may never get my way in this thing.  One of the greatest battles we face as believer’s is the inward and sometimes unconscious insistence on our will being done even when it’s in direct opposition to God’s will.  I was willing to accept difficulties, challenges, and even the trials and test the Lord allowed in my life.  But only for so long.  I had to know there would be a light at the end of the tunnel and that I would get to see it soon!  I thought to myself “how can I lay my burden down if I have to face it all over again the very next day?!” I felt “Lord if you don’t remove this load completely out of my life the suffering will be more than I can bear.”

But now as I look back, I think how arrogant of me to think that my sweet Lord would keep me from the place of suffering.  After all my Father was willing to allow His precious, sinless Son to die on the cross for the sin of the world. If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), why would He not allow the hard things in my life that will ultimately lead me to a closer walk with Him and a greater dependency on Him?  God is both willing and able to do the hard things.  He did the hardest thing ever when He let Jesus be crucified on a cross for us.  It was in fact the most unjust transaction that ever occurred!  And yet Jesus willingly accepted the cup from the Father’s hand.

Will we not also accept the cup the Lord extends to us?  The cup of suffering that’s always for a greater good?  Yes it is difficult to drink of and it takes a while to finish it all.  It tastes bitter and each sip makes you sick to your stomach.  Yet it has medicinal properties- healing the inner most parts as it is being digested. It cleanses the vessel that drinks from it and makes it meet for use.  It’s a precise prescription gathered from the seed of poor choices, the root of unforeseen circumstances, and a plant called sin.  God-The Great Physician knows how to work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). Although the contents of this cup is disgusting it’s just what The Doctor ordered.  Unfortunately most times our response to this cup is like that of a little kid refusing to take his medicine. We turn our heads away from it, we shove it away with our hands, and we beg not to be forced to take it.  We throw daily tantrums as we continue to pray day in and day out for this cup to be removed.  But like a loving parent, our Father knows what’s best, and He’s able to act in our best interest.  He’s able to handle the temporary discomfort we feel because He knows the eternal results it can yield. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,..” 2^nd Corinth. 4:17

Seems so simple and yet my stubborn will and self-centered heart just couldn’t grasp it.  Or was it that I just wouldn’t grasp it?  Hmmm? The Lord is long-suffering so He’ll allow us to fight against Him for quite some time.  However eventually there comes a time when He says enough is enough!  It’s time for you to receive this cup!  The Lord said this to me a couple of years ago.  I was in the midst of dealing with an ongoing difficult situation.  I felt I was paying the price for someone else’s carelessness for what now seemed like the millionth time.  As the sense of injustice inflamed my anger I cried out to God in my frustration.  I let Him know of my plans to take matters in my own hands.  I told Him that I’ve decided there was no way I could subject myself to this situation any longer.  I told Him I could no longer take failing Him over and over again in this area of my life.  I gave Him a peace of my mind so to speak, but in all actuality it a cry for help.  I desperately wanted His approval to remove myself from the circumstance. Deep down I wasn’t in any way willing to rebel against my Lord. Still the desperation I felt in that moment caused me to threaten to do so.  After all, every single time I really did try my hardest to remain Christ-like when the fire would get too hot, but ultimately I’d always fail.  In the end the ugliness of my heart always reared its ugly head and caused me to hang my head in shame.  I wanted-no I needed-deliverance!

(Now I had this problem back then.  I was this black or white, dogmatic, principled type person.  The problem with that is that God allows lots of gray areas in life.  He uses them to encourage us to trust Him.  I hate to say it but I lived many years of my Christian life as a frustrated irritable person because of all those gray areas of life.  I rejected and fought against them because they didn’t fit into my black box or my white box.  I found it impossible to control or even handle those unpredictable gray areas on my own.  God knew this about me.  He also knew I desperately needed to change – so He handed me a very special cup.  A cup I had been rejecting for a very long time).

As I frantically made my appeal to the Lord He said this to me “your problem is that you refuse to receive this cup from My hand.”  “If you would only receive this cup from ME you would be able to handle this so much better.”  WHATTT?!!!  I almost jumped out of my seat!  I thought there is NO WAY this is from Your Hand!  This is dysfunctional! This is unjust and unfair!  This isn’t normal! This is exhausting!  But then, in an instant, truth flooded my soul and I fully understood what HE spoke to me.  In that moment I knew this situation in my life was indeed straight from His hand!  This truth reconciled it all for me.  It made all the pieces fit perfectly together.  The puzzle was now solved.  God in His goodness was allowing something very difficult in my life for my own good-to change me; and for His own glory-to change others. God in His goodness was using this cup of suffering to do many wonderful things: to reflect the love of Christ to someone else; to overwhelm me with the love and power of Christ; and to refine me more into the image of Christ.  As I was able to see the big picture I was able to accept the cup from His hand! “Halleluia!  Let the change begin!”

When we willingly receive the cup from His hand something miraculous happens.  Our will aligns with His will and we begin to feel invincible towards that very thing that was once unbearable.  We start experiencing victory instead of the frustration of repetitive failure. We must remember that God is sovereign.  If He extends the cup of suffering to us we shouldn’t hesitate to take it.  The cup of suffering taste sour but it both saves and sanctifies.  Its a cleansing cup!

So how do we know if The Lord is offering a special cup to us?  Well if we choose to walk through life with God by keeping short accounts and examining our hearts often before Him, we’ll be able to discern some things in regards to challenges and trials we’re facing.   When we are willing to confess and repent of our sins we’ll be able to sense whether or not our trial is a consequence of that sin.  But even then we can rest and trust God knowing that He will use that very consequence for our good.  Sometimes we endure difficulties because of the choices of others.  God never takes away our freedom of choice.  But even when those close to us make wrong choices, The Lord can and will work it all together for our good.  Then there are times when the cup consists of the challenges and difficulties attached to a special call the Lord has just for us.  Many saints were called to martyrdom. Even today saints all around the world are being persecuted for their faith.  Will you remember them and commit to praying for them?  In the midst of your difficulties will you count your blessings and thank God that His grace is sufficient for anything He allows in your life?

So what is the cup the Lord has handed to you?  Are you willing to examine your circumstances in light of the sovereignty of God?  Are you willing to accept the call to suffer and sacrifice for the good of someone else?  We’re never more like Christ than when we are willing to “lay down our lives” for someone else.  We may not get to see the value of what the Lord is doing now but one day we will.  If you have already identified the cup in your life how are you receiving it? Are you drinking of it in your own strength, or are you trusting His Spirit to see you through? How is the cleansing cup refining you?  Let Jesus speak this to your heart today…

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  Ephesians 5:1-2

HEART TO HEART:  THERE’S NO CUP WE CAN DRINK FROM THAT CAN EVER COMPARE TO THE CUP JESUS CHRIST DRANK FOR US.