Outside the City Revisited

As mentioned in an earlier post, I certainly can relate to Jonah sitting outside the city wondering what God is up to. Jonah's response was anger as is mine some days. Anger is a natural response to suffering or grief or disappointment. Anger occurs when we realize that we are not as in control of life as much as we thought. Suffering often comes through unexpected circumstances. Those unexpected circumstances throws our lack of control in our face and reveals the illusions that we have about what is really in our control and what is not.Through multiple sources (sermons, Bible study, articles, people, prayer, etc.), I have been challenged to look at suffering in some new ways. The Bible is full of Scriptures that call for us to endure. This is the same Bible that says Jesus came to bring life and bring it to abundance. How in the world does this fit together? I wonder if the abundant life is discovered in the midst of endurance. I wonder if the abundant life is discovered not only in victory, but in despair, in the kind of despair that leaves us no choice but to turn to Christ. Scripture also says that Jesus’ work on the cross is complete and that this finished work will restore us from not only sin, but suffering as well. Where and when is that promise obtained in our lives? When does the work of the cross remove death from our existence? I’m not sure I can answer that completely, but Jesus knew that his suffering on the cross would lead to Easter Sunday. He knew there was an Easter Sunday coming, but Good Friday still hurt like Hell (literally). So it would seem that the only way to be completely healed of suffering and sin is after death. Isn’t that what Christ said? We must take up our own cross daily, deny ourselves, to die to our old way and be raised to new life. Physical death frees us from the physical suffering of this world. Jesus also meant that we must die each day spiritually to free us from the sin of our lives. I believe this is not just about salvation because we “daily” take up our instrument of death, the cross, to be healed. I pray that we find the abundant life in the midst of suffering. I pray that we find our trials as opportunities to serve Christ. I pray that anger will give way to worship of a God who came from up there to down here to transform me.