“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
Over the last couple of months or so God has been speaking to my heart about living in the light, and I don’t think His word is only for me. So throughout the year I’ll be sharing with you some things He’s shown me, and I’m sure will show me, about living in the light, about being a light and about sharing His light with those around you.
Because of certain circumstances throughout my life, I grew accustomed at a young age to rely on myself, and dealing with mounting difficult circumstances alone taught me to keep secrets. By the time I was saved at 26, that way of living had become second nature.
It’s been 25 years since the day Christ shown His light into my heart and life, and yet more and more He’s showing me that my habit of running and hiding when life gets hard hasn’t included hiding from just people. Without really realizing it, I was, to a degree, hiding from God too. I was still in the mode of dealing with much of the pain and circumstances of life on my own.
But through His love and grace and mercy, He’s been coaxing me out from hiding and telling me “It’s okay. I already know how you feel, I already know what you think, and I love you no matter what. I don’t love you as others have. I love you unconditionally, with an all-consuming love, and nothing can take that away.”
The world tells us the opposite: that we have to earn love, and that pursuit can overflow into our relationship with Christ. The enemy works hard to keep us working for love, although he never reveals to us that love can never be earned. In trying to earn it, he dangles love as a carrot that’s always just out of reach. And in trying to conceal God’s love, the enemy also tries to conceal His light.
The thing the enemy doesn’t want anyone to know is that unless we come into the light, allowing our sins to be exposed by talking to our Heavenly Father about our pain, our confusion, our brokenness, and letting Him deal with it all, there can be no healing. satan loves when we keep secrets, when we live in the shadows, because he knows that Christ’s light will offer us forgiveness and will bind up our wounds. That He’ll use them grow us and give us a greater capacity for compassion toward others who are going through their own painful circumstances. satan doesn’t want us to know that our shame and guilt were nailed to the cross along with our sins when we received Christ as Lord and Savior.
But they were, and we are free. We are free to come into the Light.
Some truths are finally moving the long journey from my mind to my heart. As I’m growing in the Lord, I’m growing in His grace, and I’m finally starting to understand what those words mean.
And so, for the freedom to stand boldly with arms raised in the light and love of Jesus, I’m thankful.
“1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
Did you know that in the Greek, the word for rejoice in verse 2 – “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”….is the same word for glory in verse 3 – “glory in tribulations…”
Rejoicing and glorying in the hope of the glory of God: yes. But they aren’t exactly the first words I think of when I think of my tribulations – or pressure – as the Greek describes it. In our modern vernacular we might say “being stuck between a rock and hard place.” There’s no place to go, no way out, and nothing we can do about it. And for this we are to rejoice just as we are to rejoice in the hope, or expectation, of the glory of God.
How can we do that?
Just as we can rejoice in what will come as a result of our hope, our faith, our expectation: the glory of God, we can also rejoice in what will come as a result of our tribulations: perseverance…character…hope. Just as we wait for the glory of God Himself, we wait for the glory of God to be made manifest in ourselves through our sufferings. It’s through pain and suffering that we’re conformed to the image of God’s Son.
Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 as a runner who competes. A lot of training goes into an athlete before competition, and spiritually speaking, tribulations are our God-given trainer.
A runner runs until his feet bleed, his shins ache and his muscles spasm, but he doesn’t give up. A boxer hits a speed bag, a heavy bag and a sparring partner until he’s bruised, bloodied and his knuckles are raw, but he doesn’t give up.
No matter what opponent you’re facing, don’t give up. It may be more than you bargained for, it may leave you in tears and breathless, it may bruise your soul, but don’t give up. Trust in the One who sees you, the One who uses pain to produce in His children His own character. Allow our loving Father to discipline and prepare you, to mature and perfect you for whatever He has planned – in this life and the next – so that you may run the race and win the crown.
Grace and mercy,
