It?s interesting that when God wants to use us in his plans, we tend to neglect the amount of suffering that will entail. We assume that pain is bad and happiness is good. When I think about the people who changed the world, many of them lead very painful lives. Nelson Mandella had to be put in jail forty years for his desire to change his country. You know what he did when he got out? became president and changed his country. Martin Luther King had constant death threats on him, until he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Ghandi changed the world of India and was key in aiding their freedom from Britain through peaceful protesting. All these men had callings and followed through with them?yet they also all suffered greatly. Does anyone recoil at hearing the words of the Lord to Ananias in Acts 9:15&16, "But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." To hear the way the Lord talks about suffering, it is quite challenging I must confess. Yet look at the impact their lives filled with suffering had on the world.
With Christmas approaching, Mary is an appropriate example. God?s blessing on Mary, the honor of being the mother of the Messiah, lead too much pain. Her peers most likely ridiculed her for belief that she was unfaithful. Her fiancée? would come close to leaving her. She had to watch her son be rejected, and murdered. But through her son would come the world?s only hope. Did she have an impact on the World? I?d say so.
And finally, with this Christmas season approaching, I would like to bring up something else about Mary; a poor, young, female. The situation of Mary really made her seem unusable by God for any major task. But God chose Mary for one of the most important acts of obedience he has ever demanded of anyone. When we think that another?s abilities, experience, or even their education make them an unlikely candidate for God?s service, think again. I do not believe God?s favor brings instant success or fame, nor does he need to use the successful or famous. It seems to me He chooses the lowly in status and to bless the world (James 1:9&10), and he uses the pain of those he calls to change the world.
For my final thought, if your suffering this Christmas like many are, let Jesus use you to change the world around you. You don?t have to be happy to better others, but you have to be willing. If Christmas gives you crap this year, use it as fertilizer on others lives so that they may grow through your pain, and so our broken hearts may change others.
1 comment:
Thanks Nate.
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