Hard Times part 3
As an unabashed wrestling fan when I thought of the title for this Rant series I immediately thought of the old school wrestler Big Boss Man. Which, by the by, is what I call my boss at work. "What's up, big boss man?" But I digress. Big Boss Man was a cop. And his theme song talked about if you mess with him you'll be serving hard time. So that's where my head space was when I started this Rant series. Thinking about serving hard time. And, of course, kind of the opposite of that. Where nothing is too hard for the Lord, and where as long as we trust in Him, and rely on Him, HE will carry us through those hard times. How we can have joy no matter what--even in the midst of tribulation--because Jesus already overcame the world. Being an overcomer doesn't mean you CAN overcome. It means you HAVE overcome. Because JESUS overcame. In us. And through us. And as us. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, He drew all men into Himself. Drew us out of Adam and into Christ. From that moment on, what happened to Jesus happned to us. His death was our death. His resurrection was our resurrection. And vice versa. What happens to us happens to Him. We live in Him and He lives in us. Our hard times are His hard times. Look at Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." In the Message Bible it reads, "We don't have a priest who is out of touch with reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all--all but the sin." He knows what we're going through... because He's been through it. Fully God and fully man. Son of God, and Son of man. He knows what we're going through... because He's going through it with us! He swore He would never leave us nor forsake us. Whatever we go through--the good, the bad, and the ugly--He is going through it with us. CARRYING us through it. We don't have to worry about getting on God's bad side and serving hard time. Is what I'm trying to say. In my normal wander around and hope my point shines through way. The hard times don't come from God. The strength to get THROUGH the hard times comes from God. In our weakness, He is strong. When we can't, that's when He will. Being still and knowing that He is God is about letting God be who HE is, in us, and through us, and as us. Letting the joy of the Lord be our strength. Being of good cheer even in the midst of tribulatoin. Understanding that sometimes we have to go through things... and that's ok. Because we learn and grow from those experiences. We get stronger. And then we can help others when they go through the same kinds of things we've been through. Tough times don't last, but tough people do. Hard times may come... but we know that they came to pass, not to stay. We know that the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. We know that no matter what... we'll be ok. Because our heavenly Father has our back. Because we're never alone. He lives in us. We live in Him. That's our blessed assurance. That's what we cling to. That's what get's us through whatever we find ourselves needing to go through!