DAY 41...Test-imony
"In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." - Jesus Christ (John 16:33)
Faith is a wonderful thing. Living in America, we can sometimes become comfortable in our faith but when faith is tested we sometimes become resentful or discouraged. Faith is meant to be tested. What is faith if, when push comes to shove, we lose it. Perhaps it's not lost, but perhaps we lacked it from the beginning. Trials actually serve to strengthen faith.
Everyone loves a heartwarming story of someone who battled back from something hard or hurtful. We see the end result and say, wow that's a strong person, what a great story. What we rarely feel is the time pass. We may watch a two hour movie or maybe time moves a little slower as we read a book, but we rarely go through it slowly until we come to the end result.
Lazarus was sick and Jesus Christ knows this but He doesn't go to him right away, but waits. He makes it there four days after Lazarus died. Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary could not see what God had in store...
Faith is a wonderful thing. Living in America, we can sometimes become comfortable in our faith but when faith is tested we sometimes become resentful or discouraged. Faith is meant to be tested. What is faith if, when push comes to shove, we lose it. Perhaps it's not lost, but perhaps we lacked it from the beginning. Trials actually serve to strengthen faith.
Everyone loves a heartwarming story of someone who battled back from something hard or hurtful. We see the end result and say, wow that's a strong person, what a great story. What we rarely feel is the time pass. We may watch a two hour movie or maybe time moves a little slower as we read a book, but we rarely go through it slowly until we come to the end result.
Lazarus was sick and Jesus Christ knows this but He doesn't go to him right away, but waits. He makes it there four days after Lazarus died. Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary could not see what God had in store...
This is why Lent and Holy Week is done the way it's done in the Orthodox Church. Many churches, God bless them, have a service on Friday and Sunday for Good Friday and Easter. They recognize and celebrate these important feasts, but they don't require one to live it with Christ. In the Orthodox Church, we are encouraged to go to all 16 services from the Saturday of Lazarus until Pascha. SIXTEEN! That's a crazy amount of services in one week. It's really hard to do that. But we are not just watching Christ go through his passion and resurrection, we are participating in it WITH him.
It's exhausting. It's hard. It's...the most rewarding experience you could imagine. It helps us understand that we don't just snap our fingers to get the desired results we want to get. It's tough, and the end reward makes it all worth it.
You're in a journey right now, be tough, face the problems and know that you if you ever want to make a great testimony about your life and where you've been, have to go through the Test first before you can get the "imony."
It's exhausting. It's hard. It's...the most rewarding experience you could imagine. It helps us understand that we don't just snap our fingers to get the desired results we want to get. It's tough, and the end reward makes it all worth it.
You're in a journey right now, be tough, face the problems and know that you if you ever want to make a great testimony about your life and where you've been, have to go through the Test first before you can get the "imony."
Today's Instructions:
A. Pray for the day, for friends, for family, for enemies. Thanksgiving, Requests, Praise.
B. In the Fortify Program, Update the battle tracker. Go to Week 6. Check out, "Check in: S.T.A.R."
C. Go to the daily readings and read today's Scripture.
D. Journal the following: 1. What do you want at the end of this journey? 2. What makes it difficult to see that end? 3. Does it comfort you to know that this journey is not over yet?
Today's Tips: When the urges come get up. Stop. Breathe. Pray. Go pick up your Bible, open it to a page and begin reading.
God give you strength. See you tomorrow.
Don't ever come back to this page to start over. This is the launching pad. You've already begun, even if you fall.
If you want to review this page, please do, but do not come back here to start over.