2 Timothy 1:12

Of all the Bible Geek "Spread the Word" e-mails, this one stands out the most.  I wish Bible Geek still sent these!
For a long time, I had this on my board, and I would read it whenever I needed to remember.



t.

LIFE TEEN Presents

Spread the WORD


“I am suffering these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know Him in
whom I have believed and am confident that He is able to guard what has
been entrusted to me until that day.” – 2 Timothy 1:12



SITUATION EXPLAINED
If God is so loving than why do we suffer?


SOLUTION OFFERED
Suffering does not make sense to this modern world.  Not even the most
scientifically astute minds or advanced mathematical theorems can
explain the purpose of suffering.  Science cannot give us an answer, so
technology attempts to give us hundreds of ways to avoid it.  That is part
of the problem…not suffering, but avoidance.  Suffering to a
non-Christian mind is pointless, but to a Christian, suffering is nothing short
of “perfect-ing” love.

I know…it doesn’t seem to make sense.  How can LOVE be rooted in
suffering?
How can pain be a “good thing”?  The answer is at the heart of today’s
verse. 

The truth is that suffering can be a beautiful thing, if we trust.  It
was in my greatest moments of suffering…true suffering, that I learned
how much God really loves me.  God, in his LOVE, allows us to suffer
from time to time, NOT because He dislikes us, but because He loves us
THAT much…that He would allow us to participate in the truest form of
love that there is – the cross of Christ…the willingness to suffer, even
unto death. 

Our suffering is forever bound to His. 
It is in Christ’s brokenness that He saves us.
It is in our brokenness that we can help Him save others.

If those who profess to know and who proclaim to love God (you and I)
go through hardships, all the while refusing to take our eyes off of our
Creator, especially in moments of intense loneliness or pain…how much
stronger will those around us become?  How much stronger will our
witness be?  How many more of our friends and family will want to come to
know our source of strength and of joy in the face of trial or pain?

For, you and I are the body of Christ, BROKEN and shared so that others
might live…just like the Eucharist.

Every one of the tears that I have ever shed has, in time, helped
another.  If my brokenness can bring hope or comfort, wisdom or counsel,
peace or, even, joy to another member of God’s family, than that pain was
not worthless but very worthwhile.

If I am a true Christian than that means that I don’t view things the
same way a non-Christian does.  Someone who doesn’t know Jesus views
this world as an ending place; Christians see it as a preparation place. 
Someone who doesn’t believe in Christ will probably never understand
the purpose of suffering, but a Christian knows the ending to the story.

Suffering is nothing less than participating in the perfect “love
triangle”, the most complete and  truest form of love that exists, the love
between God the Father and God the Son, a love so selfless and so real
that it has to be expressed in its own complete person, the third
person of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit.

Pain is temporary, but victory is forever.
Suffering lasts a short time, but the joy of Christ is eternal.
Don’t believe me?  Just ask a mother, moments after giving birth. 
Suffering brings life ‘to life’ in a newer, more profound way. 
Like life, it is a mystery, designed to point us back to our Creator.


Suffering is not a waste of time, but a moment in time.
Suffering does not sever my relationship with God, but more deeply
unites me to Him.
Suffering is a blessed grace, not because it is mine, but because it is
His.


SALVATION GIVEN
“I am suffering these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know Him in
whom I have believed and am confident that He is able to guard what has
been entrusted to me until that day.” – 2 Timothy 1:12



The blood that dripped from HIS veins was not IN vain.


Bible Geek
________________________________________________________________


“A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings,
but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries
escape them, they sound like beautiful music.” – Kierkegaard

Makes me think.  Christ is the ultimate poet…