A definite possibility.
How do you feel about suffering that touches your life because of the disobedience of others?
A definite problem.
Surely, the Lord would not intend for me to have to suffer the consequences of my husband's sin, my child's rebellion, my father's drinking habit, my mother's selfishness. The things I suffer for their disobedience are unfair and undeserved. God could not intend for me to endure them, could he?
This was it, this was exactly what they had been hoping for, and he had seen it first hand! Beauty, richness, abundance would all be theirs, ripe for the picking. His mouth watered as he remembered those grapes, oh my! When, in his miserable life, had he tasted such sweetness? Imagine those plump, juicy little delights being made into wine. The Lord wasn't exaggerating when He called this the promised land! After slavery in Egypt, that hot, dry year at Mt. Sinai, and the trek across the desert, Caleb could hardly wait to get in there and conquer it. Hadn't he seen the exact piece of land he wanted when they had gone in to scout? He could already picture himself there enjoying the rest he had waited so long to find.
There was no doubt in his mind that God would be with them. After what He did in Egypt, taking this land would be a piece of cake. Even those giants couldn't present an obstacle too big for his God. Besides, God is faithful to His promises; he never stopped believing that.
Standing before Moses, Aaron and the people, Caleb listened as his fellow spies gave their report. Yes, he thought, show'em those grapes, get them excited about the fruit of the land. Wait! No! What are you saying? You're going to discourage them; it's not nearly as bad as you make it sound. He had to speak up, "listen, we have to go possess the land, we can do this!" "Right?", he said, turning to the others who had been with him for the last 40 days, and nodding his head. Only Joshua looked at him in agreement.
The rest continued to paint horrible pictures of the people in the land, to talk about the fortresses surrounding the cities. Tearing their clothes, Caleb and Joshua begged the people not to rebel against the Lord. "Don't listen to this report! These people are vulnerable, because we have the Lord with us", they cried.
He spoke up, but no one listened. He begged the people to have faith, but they preferred instead to take the easy route, to give in to fear. He stood alone against a nation of more than 1 million people.
Though his faith meant that he would be one of only two men standing there that day to eventually be allowed into the land, Caleb still had to suffer the long forty years of desert wandering and waiting.
He had had faith to do what was right, he had spoken up for what was right, he had been willing and ready to act on what was right, but in the end, he still had to suffer with everyone else for their sin, not his. How did he get up every one of those 14,000 plus days and not feel great bitterness? How did he get through those 40 years of waiting for his reward, 40 years of suffering?
numbers13&14
I'm not sure I like this aspect of suffering. People who make bad choices should keep their suffering to themselves, thank you. Those who do the right thing shouldn't have to suffer, just because the people around them are stubborn and stupid.
"For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;" (1peter3:17-18)
Hmmm.....
Where would I be if Jesus had shared my attitude?
How did He endure agony on the cross for my sin?
For the joy set before Him, He endured the shame, says the author of Hebrews. (12:2)
Whether my suffering lasts 8 hours, 10 days, 12 months, 40 years, or a lifetime, what is that compared to eternity with the Lord. Put together all the lifetimes of every person ever born, and it still only amounts to a flash in the pan. They share something that eternity does not, an end.
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (1corinthians4:16-18)
I don't really know of anything that makes suffering the consequences of others' actions seem justifiable, right, or pleasant. Honestly, though, we are not strangers to pain for a better reward. Perfect example: body building. P90xers* know this, flat out, if you want to build muscle, it has to hurt. To weight lifters, that kind of pain feels good. Insane!
But then I got to thinking, what is the difference between hurting my muscles and suffering? Why do we welcome one and not the other?
My first thought was the reward. You have to want what comes with all the pain. As much as I want and am grateful for eternity in the Lord's presence, I still don't get how that helps me find joy in suffering now, especially unfair suffering. I can agree with the psalmist who wrote, "Whom have I in heaven but Thee and besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth." psalm73:25, but still find it so impossible to feel joy in the suffering. Why can't I welcome the burn that eternal weight lifting brings?
There is one really HUGE difference between hurting muscles and hurting me.
My muscles don't have pride.
It hurts my pride that I would have to suffer for the sins of others, that I have to suffer for doing what is right, that I would have to suffer for people who aren't acting sorry enough for what they have done to me. Pride, the beating heart of my flesh, isn't going to have a good attitude about suffering, and that's putting it mildly.
What shall we do about this pride?
^smile^
Make the next chapter about humility?
*P90x is a Beach body workout by Tony Horton
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