6.30.23
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
One of the most important things a boxer can learn is how to take a punch. Keep your jaw clenched, chin down, shoulders up, and roll with the punches. As a follower of Jesus, the world, the flesh, and the devil are throwing punches at you all day long. It’s not a matter of if you are going to get hit, it’s a matter of when. You’re going to be punched; it is inevitable that you are going to suffer – so you may as well learn to suffer the right way.
There is a difference between how Job took a punch and how Jesus took a punch. Job intensified his suffering; Jesus maximized His suffering. Job focused on what was happening to him. Jesus focused on what was being done through Him. If you suffer like Job, you will have ashes instead of beauty and mourning instead of the oil of joy. If you suffer like Jesus, you will have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness.
One of the ways to take a punch as a follower of Jesus is to have good theology. Here is some good theology – know that God will use evil in your life to bring about His purposes. Can God use evil to bring about His purposes? Yes. Has God used evil to bring about His purposes? Yes – just look at the crucifixion of Jesus. Will God use evil in your life to bring about His purposes? Yes.
Did Joseph or Jesus deserve the injustice and suffering they experienced? No. But they had good theology – they knew that God could use evil to bring about His purposes. Job didn’t deserve the suffering he experienced, but he didn’t have this piece of good theology in his spiritual kit bag. Job grew bitter toward God because he only focused on what was happening to him. Joseph and Jesus focused on what was happening through them. Instead of looking at what’s happening to you and looking around at who’s doing it to you – look ahead and know that what’s happening to you is so that something might form in you that something good and holy might happen through you.
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and launched him into decades of undeserved suffering. When Joseph had opportunity to avenge himself on his brothers for their treachery, he didn’t do so. Why? Because he had good theology. He knew that God could use evil to bring about His purposes. He said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” God can override the evil intentions of people and bring forth His plans and purposes.
No – debt, divorce, depression, disease, and death are not good. The Bible doesn’t say that all things that happen to a Christian are good. The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good. Look ahead to what God wants to do through you. That’s good theology.
Jesus was crucified – it happened to Him. Yet Jesus wasn’t focused on what was happening to Him, but what would happen through Him because of what was happening to Him. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus maximized His suffering.
Job intensified his suffering because he had no such understanding. Job didn’t see the joy set before him, he only felt the weight that was put upon him. All Job could see was what was happening to Him. Job said, “God is doing this to me & I resent it.” This is where some of you are, and your soul is full of ashes and mourning. Your grief has become your grave. If your only horizon is what is being done to you and you don’t have the perspective of what God wants to do through you, you’ll be stuck – like Job. And you’ll be as miserable as he was. Job thought of himself as a victim through the entire book until he met with God. Jesus maximized His suffering while Job intensified his suffering.
As a follower of Jesus, you’re going to take a punch. It’s up to you whether you intensify or maximize your suffering.
Be blessed and stay healthy, follow Jesus (not Job) – Pastor Tim
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