"Counting It All Joy"

 "I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth; there she brought thee forth that bare thee." (S.O.S. 8:5b)

  "Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, "Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won't see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy."" (John 16:19-22 NLT)

  So, yesterday I heard a brief message from Pastor Mike F., as he shared about his wife's obsession with the final round of a Golf Tournament. At first I thought, 'Oh, he just doesn't get it,' as I heard him say how boring it was to watch and how he couldn't understand what she saw in the silly game of Golf. And then he let the cat out of the bag, as he told how he reviews all of the sports outcomes on Sunday night, but because of their busy Sunday's, his wife watched a prerecorded final round on Monday.

  You can image what that might be like, as he illustrated his attitude knowing the outcome, yet seeing his wife her wringing her hands as she watches the drama unfold. He shrugs his shoulders, glances over from time to time while reading his paper, and tries as hard as he can not to say who it is that is going to win. Long story short: this is to be the attitude of the Church! We know the final outcome, because He has already told us before hand what it will be; so why do we worry about what might happen between now and then?  

  Oddly enough, we all have felt the need to be pressed; at least I know I have. We see the trials and tribulations spoken of, yet sit comfortably in our seats, without hardly a care, saying, 'It is not going to happen here, so why should I worry?' Wrong attitude! You don't worry because it does not matter, not because it does not happen; because when it does, then you will not be prepared for it, even though Jesus has already said it would happen. 

  If there is one thing that the enemy is good at, it is have the power to deceive, even the very elect! To be ready and able to withstand the deception, we must know the truth: the truth is only found in one place: The Word of God! Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) He did not say that the truth will set us free, but that it shall make us free! We are not set free, waiting to be free, or still hoping that it will some day happen: He makes us free, Free Indeed! 

  Okay, so you don't quite understand; I can understand your situation. I myself have the same issue from time to time, where I simply don't understand why God allows certain things to happen. Due to the nature of my mortality, I have been given this limited ability to see what the future brings and why it shocks me when I see things going so far out of the bounds of rationality; but that is why I am not God. But, that does not mean I don't know what ends up happening in the end! KAPISH... 

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30)