"Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used." (Hebrews 10:33 LKV)
"See how these enemies insult you, LORD. A foolish nation has dishonored your name. Don't let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves. Don't forget your suffering people forever. Remember your covenant promises, for the land is full of darkness and violence! Don't let the downtrodden be humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, O God, and defend your cause. Remember how these fools insult you all day long. Don't overlook what your enemies have said or their growing uproar." (PSALM 74:18-23 NLT)
Just to clarify what this title is meant for, the term, "gazing-stock," which basically means: '"to bring upon the stage; to set forth as a spectacle, expose to contempt." How ever you might take it to represent, there is some very real circumstances we must deal with, in which those that are watching, may or will, sometimes make it out to be our downfall or punishment for our sins.
They say that the Book of Job is the oldest Book in the Bible, which is a Book that deals heavily with the conflictions of both those who look upon the afflicted, as well as the heart of the one that is suffering in the affliction. With all that is said, Job is brought to the point of trusting God, even though he has been overwhelmed by reproaches and afflictions.
It is this "reproach" that makes the whole thing come to life! The thing that is usually overlooked is the reason that affliction comes upon those that serve the Lord, as many will think there is something wrong with them, as if they are being punished for something that they have done.
As we see in Isaiah 53:4, as it describes what the people saw, as Jesus hung upon the cross: "Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins." This is hard to imagine, but when Stephen was stoned for sharing the truth, Jesus was championing his death, as Stephen saw Jesus standing at God's right hand!
Anywho, not to get weird or full of self-pity, but there are times when I feel conflicted and reproached in my own circumstance, which sometimes makes me feel as though I am being punished. What's worse than that, is that I feel as if sometimes others look at me, just shaking their heads, as if God is giving me what I deserve, for whatever it is or for whatever I done.
To be perfectly honest, I really don't care! My life is not my own, I don't do what I do for me, I do what I do because I love my wife, regardless of the condition she might be in, we are both afflicted and are looking forward to very end, together as one...
"For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united as one." This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:25-33 NLT)
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