tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522155340743471839.post5386829394107807269..comments2023-04-25T09:28:46.745-07:00Comments on PRAXIS - God Revolution: Suffering is a Privilege?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17204529749627013617noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522155340743471839.post-56126546049720907222008-03-07T18:31:00.000-08:002008-03-07T18:31:00.000-08:00Our natural bent to run away from suffering and ha...Our natural bent to run away from suffering and hardship is one of the reasons why we suffer so much suffering and hardship.<BR/><BR/>It's because we don't want to do the hard work of working out differences in relationships that we have so many differences.<BR/><BR/>It's because we don't do the hard work and discipline of regular exercise and healthy eating habits that we suffer so many physical illnesses.<BR/><BR/>It's because we fail to do the hard work of praying and spiritual disciplines that we become obese with laziness.<BR/><BR/>It's like they say...if you leave nature on its own, it will return to its wild state. In order to have a beautiful garden escape, one must constantly battle the pests and weeds. <BR/><BR/>Our natural state is to turn away from God. It takes intentional work, discipline, and willingness to suffer if we're going to grow as Christ-followers.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17204529749627013617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522155340743471839.post-81998790243365328332008-03-07T18:00:00.000-08:002008-03-07T18:00:00.000-08:00This post makes me think of John Donne’s Holy Sonn...This post makes me think of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV:<BR/><BR/>Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you<BR/>As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;<BR/>That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend<BR/>Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.<BR/>I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,<BR/>Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.<BR/>Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,<BR/>But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.<BR/>Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,<BR/>But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;<BR/>Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,<BR/>Take me to you, imprison me, for I,<BR/>Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,<BR/>Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.<BR/><BR/>I don’t like suffering. I don’t like pain. But I can wholeheartedly attest to the fact that in my life, my moments of excruciating pain, my moments of complete and utter desperation are the moments when I draw more near to God. These are the moments in which I grow in the most noticeable and tangible ways. And in those moments and for those reasons, suffering is indeed a blessing.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that this type of suffering, the type that seems to be thrust upon us, prepares us to willing suffer “for the sake of the gospel.”Mrs. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03854651866604362487noreply@blogger.com