Learning Obedience Through Suffering
Learning obedience through our suffering simply means honouring God and honouring our authentic design. Believing who God says we are and what He says we can do over and above what the world says or how we feel in that moment of pain.
"๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐, ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ [๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐, ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ]." - ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐:๐-๐.
I shared the story of Jabez two weeks ago, how by original design he was destined to be 'more honourable'. However, because of his mother's painful birth experience, she named him 'pain', and that changed Jabez's destiny.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐, which was why he attained the glorified and perfected state God originally intended for man.
We all have unique destinies and have come to earth with a unique blueprint. However, like Jabez, we may have experienced several dysfunctions and pain on our journey.
The verse above gives us the strategy to revert to our original design (our authentic selves) by learning obedience through our sufferings.
Rather than allow our painful experiences and sufferings to change who we are, Jesus modelled 'learning obedience' as a response to our painful experiences.
๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง. Believing who God says we are and what He says we can do over and above what the world says or how we feel in that moment of pain.
As we enter into a new week, ๐ก๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐'๐จ ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐ฉ๐ ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ก๐'๐จ ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ, and in that way, we are honouring God and honouring our authentic selves.
Like Jesus, the reward is that we become gradually aligned with the perfect state and original design that God intended for us from the very beginning.
Have a lovely week โค๏ธ
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