I Corinthians 16:13-14
I Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And everything you do must be done with love.”
During my lunch hour at work, I blog. I write about politics, what’s going on in the news, strange science news, or my personal life. People who read my blog regularly know I’m a Christian, but that’s not the focus. Every now and then, though, world events spark religious discussions, and that’s what happened with my post about the fighting in Israel and Lebanon this week.
I got a comment from a man who said he’s not very religious, not very familiar with Armageddon, and he finds the events in Israel scary. He said, “Innocent people are dying. Can anyone see a purpose or some kind of master plan, that will tell us one day why this all happened. I've heard it said, there's a reason for everything. I struggle with that belief.”
My heart breaks for this man, for his grasping for answers and for the fear that comes with a lack of faith in Him who calms the storms. And this passage in I Corinthians describes perfectly the burden I felt as I wrestled with how to answer him. I needed to be strong and courageous, standing true to what I believe, while staying on my guard and also answering him in love. It can be hard to balance it all the right way, and I’m not even sure I did.
The master plan I described (in a lot more words than here) is that God wants our love, and He lets us choose to give it, through faith in His Son. And He allows the suffering to continue, because He wants to give as many people as possible as much time as possible to come to faith in Him.
I haven’t heard back from the commenter, so all I can do now is pray for him to find peace in his heart by coming to faith in Jesus. For myself, all I can do is thank God that He gave me the courage to answer this man, and pray that my words were close enough to the truth about the heart of God.
How about you? Are there questions you’re struggling to answer for someone? Are there principles you’re having a hard time putting into practice? Is there something in your personal life or in the world that looks scary to you? Be courageous. Be strong. The Lord your God will strengthen you. And then you will be able to do things in love.
May His peace fill your heart in the coming week.
Brenda
During my lunch hour at work, I blog. I write about politics, what’s going on in the news, strange science news, or my personal life. People who read my blog regularly know I’m a Christian, but that’s not the focus. Every now and then, though, world events spark religious discussions, and that’s what happened with my post about the fighting in Israel and Lebanon this week.
I got a comment from a man who said he’s not very religious, not very familiar with Armageddon, and he finds the events in Israel scary. He said, “Innocent people are dying. Can anyone see a purpose or some kind of master plan, that will tell us one day why this all happened. I've heard it said, there's a reason for everything. I struggle with that belief.”
My heart breaks for this man, for his grasping for answers and for the fear that comes with a lack of faith in Him who calms the storms. And this passage in I Corinthians describes perfectly the burden I felt as I wrestled with how to answer him. I needed to be strong and courageous, standing true to what I believe, while staying on my guard and also answering him in love. It can be hard to balance it all the right way, and I’m not even sure I did.
The master plan I described (in a lot more words than here) is that God wants our love, and He lets us choose to give it, through faith in His Son. And He allows the suffering to continue, because He wants to give as many people as possible as much time as possible to come to faith in Him.
I haven’t heard back from the commenter, so all I can do now is pray for him to find peace in his heart by coming to faith in Jesus. For myself, all I can do is thank God that He gave me the courage to answer this man, and pray that my words were close enough to the truth about the heart of God.
How about you? Are there questions you’re struggling to answer for someone? Are there principles you’re having a hard time putting into practice? Is there something in your personal life or in the world that looks scary to you? Be courageous. Be strong. The Lord your God will strengthen you. And then you will be able to do things in love.
May His peace fill your heart in the coming week.
Brenda
posted by BreadBakers at 12:58 PM
2 Comments:
I like what you said. It was very encouraging to me in the last minute I read it. Your courage is making a difference. Thanks for trusting in Him, our Lord and Savior.
You did well. I am encourage by your words in just the last few minutes I read them. Thank you for your courage and commitment to our Lord and Savior.
Dave R.
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