This series has been about rejoicing and I know that for many of you the pain, the sorrows, and the suffering is so great that you might say impossible. Others, put on an exterior of great joy, the life of the party. Yet, when alone all the agony of your broken heart comes pouring in upon you. Doubts and fears begin to flood your mind. Then you wonder if your own inability to rejoice, your trembling attempts at faith will prevent God from ever really blessing you. Indeed, the journey of a pilgrim through a strange land has moments of deep despair. Yet, when we fully understand and can say a resounding yes to the final two questions we can have peace even in the center of that sorrow. We can have a glimmer of hope, the tiniest sparkle of true joy deep within that heart so broken and afraid. I am not talking about the frivolous merriment of a fool. I mean a steady deep joy that rejoices in knowing that a Good, Omnipotent, Sovereign God loves me and has a perfect plan for my good. He will keep all His promises to me. He will give me the strength and wisdom needed for the journey. He has provided the grace to create me, the grace provided on the cross to save me, the daily grace that sustains me and the future grace which will always be present at the exact moment I need it every step of this journey. We can have the peace of God which helps us to march forward in spite of the sorrow; in spite of the pain. Like Paul,
2 Corinthians 6:
"7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
It is this dichotomy of sorrow and yet joy that Christ Himself presented to us.
used Courtesy of © iStockphoto.com
There is no Prince that understands perfect Joy more than Christ and there is no person so filled with compassionate sorrow as He weeps over the lost of this world. In His humanity none could have suffered more than He. He, who was perfect righteousness had to bare the full wrath that sin demanded in payment for our sins while being rejected by the very ones He desired to save. For a moment in time, He felt the ripping away of His very soul (the Father) and spirit (the Holy Spirit) while He (the body of the God head) hung alone upon that cross. Yet, He knew the joy which would be His because He loved so much each of us who would accept His gift of love and future grace. Look at Hebrews 12: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."
He is the author and the finisher of my faith. So dear weary pilgrim do not lose heart. Down in the very depth of your bleeding heart there is that flicker of joy, steadfastly secured in Christ. As we look once more at the verse in Philippians 4:
"4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." The word supplication means humbly, earnestly pray. This type of prayer only comes from the brokenness of heart that comes from our recognizing our own inability to love God as He deserves to be loved, our inadequacy to truly believe as we should, and our inept attempts at serving Him as we should. We pray with earnestness and with humility; yet, thankful that His mercy and grace has covered it all, thankful that He loves us right where we are with all of our blemishes, and thankful that He desires to even provide for us the faith that we ourselves are lacking. That is when we realize that rejoicing comes only as we are able to begin to understand the truth of His future grace and His unconditional love to all who have accepted His gift of salvation.
5. Do you believe in Future Grace? Hebrews 4: "15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Because of Christ we can bring everything in prayer and supplication to the throne of grace. There on our knees before that throne of grace we obtain mercy and find grace in the time of need. Grace for the next 5 minutes, grace for the next hour, grace for the next year, and grace that will carry us one day into His presence.
6. Do you believe that God loves you? John 3: "16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Okay, yes, I know He loved the world and gave everything for my salvation; yet, much of my life I didn’t truly believe or understand the depth of His love. I thought "He loved me enough to save me; but, didn’t really love me because I was such a failure." He has spent a lifetime of teaching me how much He Truly Loves Me. Details of that journey are in my book "A Broken and Contrite Heart". His love is boundless and unconditional.
I encourage you to take the time to listen to the following sermon by John Piper entitled "Living by Faith in Future Grace". You may say, I don’t have time to listen. I say, you don’t have time to miss this sermon. Pull out your earphones and if not now; don’t go to bed tonight without hearing it.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/living-by-faith-in-future-grace#/watch/full
© 2013 Effie Darlene Barba
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to any brands, products or services that I have mentioned with the exception of my own book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides regarding the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”