God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
A Vacation or a Boot Camp?
I came across this quote from Dallas Willard recently, and it reminds me of what Paul is saying here in Romans 5. It’s from a great article and if you’re interested you can find it here: https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/spirituality-made-hard.
In the article, one of the interviewers asked a question about human desire. This was Dallas Willard’s answer:
Desire itself is not bad. God has desires. Even angels have desires. But in human beings they have been malformed and twisted so that you must always be suspicious of desires – even desires for holiness. We live in a world where the pursuit of desire is conceived of as good. No civilization has been able to prosper on that principle. All of the great civilizations have been suspicious of desires. Great civilizations have been able to set limits and say “no” to desire. We can’t say no to anything today. The only thing we can say no to is saying no.
So with today’s passage in mind, imagine with me, there are two people who went on a trip to the same boot camp. The first person we’ll call Brad. And the second we’ll call John.
Brad thought he was going to be there forever, for a lifetime vacation, as in a vacation that would last the rest of his life. So Brad believes he should be able to fulfill his desires. After all, a vacation is about comfort and customer service. So Brad expects to be accommodated.
But John recognized he was participating in a boot camp. John’s expectation was this boot camp would last only a few weeks, and it would be intense, and difficult. It would be so difficult, those two weeks would seem like two years. But, at the end of the two weeks, for the rest of his life and into eternity John would carry with him all his training and conditioning. Training and conditioning that would ensure his best possible future.
Now imagine with me, what happens when the boot camp instructor says, “No,” or when Brad and John have to endure suffering.
Brad’s expectations are violated and, Brad becomes angry and upset. Brad starts complaining, and blaming, and scheming to get his way.
John on the other hand knows the true purpose behind the instructor’s “No”. And John knows the true purpose behind his suffering. John knows his suffering is making him into a more virtuous person. John knows his suffering is preparing him for his best possible eternity.
And John rejoices.
Our Perceptions and Expectations
I’m old. And one thing I’ve learned is that although this life is exceedingly beautiful and full of God’s love, it’s also exceedingly hard.
Paul’s instruction is there to help us to recognize: Life is a boot camp. It’s hard. But, we can let it shape us more into the likeness of Christ, and take all our “training” with us into eternity. When we recognize the good that comes from hardships, we can rejoice.
And here’s the irony: If your expectation is misaligned with the reality of life, and you think because you desire something then it’s probably good, and if you feel you ought to be able to live the way you want to live without consequences, and if you feel this life ought to be a life without suffering,
You’re only going to increase your suffering.
Because now you suffer twice. You suffer the events of this life that are difficult, and you suffer the disappointment that comes from believing you shouldn’t have to suffer.
The truth is: life is exceedingly beautiful and full of God’s love. And, life is exceedingly hard.
Life’s a boot camp.
Notes:
Image of boot camp via US Navy — Public Domain
Available on Google Play Books and on Amazon!
Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.
A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon and the ebook is now available on Google Play Books.)
