Work in Progess

So I usually keep this blog light and breezy, and I'll try not to venture too far from that today, but I'm going to share a thought wth the millions of readers that regularly subscribe to my blog (hi mom).

I think that as Christians when we feel like we are "mature" we are willing to accept that pain and hardship are God's way of teaching us important thing. And that if we are willing to suffer through them for a season we will come out the better for it in the end. In fact, perhaps we could even welcome hardships, or "Rejoice when [we] face difficulties of many kinds."

But we are unwilling to accept that our own inequities and faillings can work the same way. You might say "I'm praying that God will remove these sinful desires from my life, but he doesn't, what's wrong?"

Well we'd like to think that God will always answer "good prayers" the way we expect, but this is really not the case at all. If you pray for maturity and you pray for victory over sin and you pray for peace you aren't going to get all three at once. Becuase God will probably use a defficiency in one to bring you to a greater understanding of the other.

If we didn't fail we wouldn't learn. Holiness, depth, and love for a God we cannot see isn't something that can be microwaved or instantly granted. God WILL answer your prayers if you pray for love, a deeper relationship, and victory. But he will do it the hard way. If he transformed you into your own little Jesus you wouldn't need the real one.

Paul would then ask, "Does this mean that we are to go on sinning? By no means!" (In Romans the phrase Paul uses roughtly translates to "Hell No") No, you are not to rejoice in your sin. You are to fight it. But if you don't want to be crushed by your own shame try getting over yourself and admitting that even though it is of the devil, God has figured out a way to make you desire Him more through your sin. It's a bit of a silver lining. Also, keep in mind that there is a day approaching in the future where we will be as sinless as we've always wanted to be.

Romans 8 is an inspiring chapter.