NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Day 14 - Wake up and recover your life!

Scripture focus: There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. Philippians 1:29 (The Message)

I love talking about trusting God. It's with great consternation that I ponder Philippians 1:29. I understand that Thomas Jefferson cut and pasted the bible, choosing what he liked, eliminating what he didn't. I'm Baptist-born. Cutting and pasting, picking and choosing what I do and do not want to believe in the bible sounds like something my Sunday School teacher would not approve of – so I try not to do it.

But sometimes, and I hate to admit this, I act more like Thomas Jefferson than I'd like to admit. I honestly prefer to talk about trusting God than suffering for him. And suffering as a gift? Really? How can that be?

Although I myself am probably too immature to understand this concept, I have friends who actually get it, and they report that indeed, the Apostle Paul was right on target when he says that suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

Maybe that's why when I hopped on a treadmill at the fitness center, and the TV was tuned in to a televangelist telling me that if I trusted God, God would prosper me, I stayed tuned in. And I agreed with him! It's true, God will prosper his people – the bible says it, and I believe it. But I started fidgeting when the preacher man told me that prosperity was best defined by possessions and money.

The truth is, not all God's people flourish monetarily. Many people are born into seasons of political unrest, financial distress, war or famine. Even when the preacher is right, and some of God's children are born into unparalleled opportunity – does that guarantee that they will prosper?

I like thinking about trusting God when I can pair that trust with goodies.

But that's not the only thing scripture teaches us about trusting. Trusting also involves suffering. Suffering in its own strange and mysterious way is a gift from God. I don't understand this, nor do I wish to invite suffering into my life so that I might gain greater understanding.

But, if suffering shows up on my doorstep, I want to remember two things:

1. Trusting and suffering are not mutually exclusive states of being.
2. I have a lot to learn, and I do not need to allow the context of my life to define me. When I suffer, I can ask God to reveal to me the same truths that he showed Paul.
   

All of us can use suffering as an excuse to stop dreaming. Or, we can choose to use it as an opportunity to grow sturdier trust muscles. With those muscles, we are participating with God in the preparation process that will shape us into the kind of people who can change the world.

Recommended reading: Daniel 10 - 12

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