"One of the things that is wired into our sinful nature is a desire to run towards pleasure and to run away from pain." --Floyd Yutzy. Contrary to what our sinful nature desires the way of Christ is requires us to "choose to suffer affliction...rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11:25), like Moses did when he gave up the good life as a prince of Egypt and chose to live way of the wilderness with God's people. In Matthew 5 Jesus defines what kind of people receive God's blessing: Poor in Spirit, those who mourn, meek, hungry, thirsty, etc..... and finally the persecuted, the reviled, those who have the opportunity to experience others speaking false hoods and other evil things about them. When I read this, my first response is that I don't really want God's blessing that bad if that is what it looks like.
And so I ask: what is the great blessing of pain? Most of the things mentioned in the first part of Matthew 5 are the result of pain. Could it be that by our quest to protect ourselves from pain in relationships by not making ourselves vulnerable and our quest to protect ourselves from pain in the church by not sticking it out when others hurt us, we are missing some of God's greatest blessings?
To be continued....My lunch break is over....
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