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.
"𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 [𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬]." - 𝐇𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝟓:𝟖-𝟗.
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.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 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.
𝐌𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 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.
As we enter into a new week, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙'𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙'𝙨 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 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 ❤️
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