It seems that everyone “suffers” from something these days. Just look at your news feed on Facebook, or listen to yourself describe life to your friends, or listen to how they talk about how hard their life is. We live in an unprecedented age in human history – where many of us who complain are really merely inconvenienced rather than suffering for anything.
Notice, I said suffer FOR anything, not from something. What most of us complain about are the consequences of our bad decisions rather than the result of holy and righteous decisions. It requires nothing but a mouth to be a complainer – or a peeper as an Elder called them this weekend.
If you have never had a chance to watch chicks, ducklings, or any other bird hatch I encourage you to take the time to do so. When it is time to hatch they peck around the egg until they have broken out of the shell. Often it will take hours, if not a whole day for a chick to finish hatching, and people often want to help them finish hatching. The problem is that when you help them hatch you are actually killing them – because they need the struggle to become strong enough to walk, eat, or anything that is needed to be healthy. So when we think they are suffering what we have failed to see is that they need that struggle to achieve the very thing that they are destined to become.
We humans are much the same way in that we can either peck (strive) at the shell (barrier) or just sit and peep (complain). Never once in scripture does God honor a person who complains about life in a defeated way. God constantly honors people who say “this is hard” and yet they press on toward the perfection that awaits their breakthrough. Honestly, most people would rather peep at it – and they will never know the fullness of God’s presence for that reason. You cannot know God completely without overcoming suffering and difficulty, acknowledging your inability in yourself – and seeing that it is the one who died and is now alive that is your strength. You must see that the one who is the first and the last has seen far more than you will ever see, and is not shocked by your circumstances, but rather has the ability you desperately need for them of you will call upon the one who has kept the stars in place since the dawn of time. When you do these things you will find an amazing peace and promise.
Blessings,
Pastor Greg
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