Share in the suffering

As Christians, we are called to take up our crosses and suffer along with Jesus, whose suffering led to our redemption.

Growing up, I thought this suffering only meant I would face persecution for being a Christian.

I did face some people giggling at what I chose not to do, and I once had a boy ask me to take off my cross earrings because they offended him - which I refused to do.

As I've grown older, I've realized suffering for Jesus means we may suffer in a different way.

I was reading a devotional by Joyce Meyer today, and it kind of cleared up for me what suffering for our faith can mean - making choices that don't always feel good.

For those who aren't super strong in their faith, making choices that mean obeying God doesn't always feel good. We go against our fleshly wants and desires, and that hurts. We suffer fleshly for Godly choices.

I had never thought about this kind of suffering, a suffering that doesn't come from the exterior and other people but from within.

Thankfully, Meyer said hope remains. She said after obeying for a while, it actually becomes enjoyable to make those spiritual decisions.

We'll all face suffering for being Christians - whether its exterior or interior. Thankfully we have a perfect model to follow after.

It's a matter of choice

I'm not a tough person.

In fact, I'm kind of a complainy person.

I try to catch myself at it, but sometimes I just like to complain.

Nate is not a complainer. I have to say I am always impressed by how he takes on his duties without complaining.

There are days that he has ended up working extremely long hours, and he just bucks up and does it.

My dad was a lot like that too. He never complained about working 60 hours every week. He just always did it.

When I have to put in a few overtime hours, the first thing I do is talk about how busy a week it is and how crazy it is at work. I might not phrase it as complaining, but that's in essence what it is.

Work is a part of life that we all have to deal with. It's a part of life. Everyone has to work at something - even those who don't come by their money honestly.

A lot of things in life, we just have to do. I've talked about how hard it is sometimes to do chores and other items on our to-do lists. Life is full of tasks that aren't a whole lot of fun.

I think it's a matter of choice. We can choose to hate what we do, or we can do it silently and realize there is a reason for it.

I am proud of Nate and the fact that he doesn't complain about what he has to do. That's something that I could definitely follow after.

But why?

As I think about contentedness this week, I was continuing my reading in 1 Samuel.

Last night, I read a chapter about the Israelites being defeated by the Philistines. They Israelites were defeated, but they brought in the ark of the convenant, sure that God would help them.

Before I read the rest of the story, I was thinking, "We really should just bring God into our problems and they would all be solved."

Unfortunately, I kept reading and saw that the Israelites were killed by the thousands during the next battle, and the ark of the covenant was stolen.

What does that mean?

I guess it means that we are supposed to be content in every situation. I'm sure the Israelites did not see the good in such a slaughter, but God could have stopped it if he wanted.

We aren't supposed to ask but why? We are supposed to be content in everything. Not being content is like telling God that what he has provided is just not good enough for us. That means that your spouse is good enough, your friends are good enough, your job is good enough.

Whatever you're going through might be for now or it might be forever.

Whatever God has provided, he has provided for a reason.

Even if we don't understand, there's no buts about it.

Bad habits

I have some really bad habits.

I bite my nails. I pick the skin around my fingers. I mess with my mascara. I have bad posture.

Those are just a few.

I know that none of it is good to do, and it definitely doesn’t make me look good. However, I am a fidgety person, and I don’t know what else to do with my hands.

I’ve tried breaking my bad habits time after time. I get better for a while and then I get stressed and go back to my bad habits. Then I get stuck in the same old circle.

I know that my nail-biting and finger picking makes my hands look bad, and I know that Nate wants me to stop, but it’s hard to give something up without a great reason for it. It’s not like it’s against the law or has harsh consequences, it just is a bad habit.

Why do we pick up bad habits? It’s something to do. It helps relieve stress. We see other people start and follow suit. After doing it for a while, we just get used to it and don’t know how to stop.

That happens with a lot of things in our lives. Little decisions tend to grow and become habits, even when we don’t realize it.

I was thinking today, why should I give up my bad habits? What will really hit home that will make me want to give them up? I tried thinking of how stopping this would glorify God - making me the best person I can be, etc. Nothing really stuck.

Through the years my mom has bribed me to get me to stop biting my nails. Nate has told me how much he wants me to stop picking my fingers. People have prodded me to stand up straight.

I try to do it for a variety of reasons, but then I give up.

I think I need more will power.

Maybe we all do.

Content or comparing

Scrolling through Facebook these week, I saw at least four people I knew got married.

None of them were really close friends, so I didn't even know they were engaged until I saw people tagged in their wedding photos.

The first thing I do? I think about how I wish that were me.

When it comes to being married, maybe those people aren't even as happy as I am. I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world, and it's not that I just want to be married in general, I just cannot wait to marry him!

Nothing makes you less contented than comparing yourself to others. I know that I have a great life, but there's always something else that would make it better.

God provides us with so much in life, and yet when we compare what we have to what others have it is just never quite as good. Maybe their life is much worse than yours, but they have a boat like you want or that new car that you can't afford.

When I start comparing myself to others, it does nothing but make me feel bad - my body's not as nice as that girls, I'm paler than her, I'm not engaged yet like they are.

I've struggled with contentedness all my life. It seems like I can never just be in the place that I want to be. Even in work, my thoughts are rarely on what it is at hand, they are always on the busy week that is coming up next and had to prepare for that.

Comparing where I am in life to where someone else is a sure way to make any situation worse, because I'm not anyone else, I'm me. And I'm right where I am.

So maybe we all should just start comparing ourselves to each other and be content where we are.

Samuel!

When Samuel was young, God called to him.

However, every time Samuel heard God's voice, he went to Eli thinking it was his caretaker that was calling to him instead.

How often do we mistake God's voice for that of another? We run this way and that way searching for who is calling to us, and all it does is make us confused.

Eli finally realized that it was God calling Samuel and told Samuel to go to bed and tell God he was listening. When Samuel finally stopped running around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from, God was able to reveal himself to Samuel.

Maybe we just need to stop running around and start staying still so God can reach us right where we are.

1 Peter 1:22

Many years ago - at least it seems like it was a really long time ago - Nate gave me a photo frame with 1 Peter 1:22 on it and words taken from that passage, "Love deeply from the heart."

I used to sign all the cards and letters I wrote him with that Scripture.

Today I looked it up to see where it was from again, and I read the rest of the passage, "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart" (NIV).

The New Living Translation reads, "You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart."

GOD's WORD translations says, "Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other."

It's interesting to look at the rest of a verse that you know well, or the verses surrounding a verse you have memorized.

There's more to loving deeply from the heart than just deciding to love. Knowing the truth about Christ and purifying yourself allows you to love people the way that you should. Our sinful nature often gets in the way of love, but purifying yourself helps you love in ways that you never imagined possible.