I know I haven't blogged in a long time. It's not that I haven't thought about it, please believe. But there have been so many thoughts and feelings swirling around in my head and heart for the past month that I don't know that I could even put coherent words on paper, let alone blog. So, sorry.
Not to say that now I have all my thoughts collected and all my feelings translated into words so now I'm blogging. No. I kinda want to title this blog, What Hasn't God Taught Me This Month, but as of right now, the title space is still blank. We'll see what it's called by the end of the blog ;)
Ok, now I'm procrastinating :) [Some of you got that, and some of you didn't. It's ok if you didn't; it's more for the people who did]. Anyway...God's been teaching me a lot the last week or so about praising Him and suffering. You know, God is ALWAYS worthy of praise, whether I'm going through a hard time or a joyous time. My circumstances or feelings don't change His worthiness of my praise. It's been a really hard month for me, honestly. A lot of trials, a lot of darkness, a lot of suffering (I use that term knowing that what I've been facing lately can hardly be called suffering compared to what countless brothers and sisters face every day around the world, so I'm wary of using that word at all). But, He's still there. He's still holding me. His purpose still prevails. He has still overcome the enemy. And most importantly, He is still glorious, on His throne, worthy of praise! And in that, I can rejoice!!
I listened to a sermon my friend sent me a couple weeks ago on suffering. The passages were John 17, Phil 1:27-2:11, and 2 Cor 12:7-10--all some of my favorites. Please go read them. Slowly. And again. What has stuck out to me is that it has been GRANTED to us not only to believe in His name but to suffer for Him. Granted. That implies a gift. Suffering is a gift from God meant to be used by Him to glorify His name and to form Christ in us! Wow. Puts a totally different perspective on it, huh?! In Isa 53, it says that it pleased God to crush His Son. Jesus' suffering pleased the Father; how much more should, I, as His child, expect suffering? Suffering that would result in His glory and my sanctification?
Today I found a sermon series by David Platt on suffering and the gospel, so I'm excited to start listening to those :) I'd say more blogs to come on this topic, but no guarantees, since I haven't finished any of the other "blog series" that I've started and that have continued only in my head, not on paper. Sorry bout that!
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