I know your affliction and your poverty; nevertheless you are rich. I also know the blasphemy of those who call themselves Jews. They are not real Jews; they are the synagogue of Satan. Rev. 2:9.
I have a friend named Ted who used to fly combat missions in a fighter jet for the United States Marine Corps. Shortly after a practice landing at an Air Force base, he overheard a pilot radio the tower that he was descending through 70,000 feet. Seventy thousand feet? Descending? How high can this guy's plane fly? my friend thought. After making inquires, he discovered that it was the top-secret (at the time) SR-71 reconnaissance plane, able to travel at un-heard-of heights and at extremely fast speeds.
His appetite whetted, Ted pushed his way through a bunch of "red tape" to get permission to look the SR-71 over for himself. Finally his superiors allowed him to walk past the security detail and observe this awesome technological achievement inside a hanger. Its great size and sleekness impressed him. But as he got up close he was stunned and disappointed. The thing was leaking all over the floor. A number of drip pans dotted the floor under it. It looked as if this "bucket of bolts" was ready to fall apart! Then he found out it was being readied for takeoff. He asked what was the matter with it.
"Nothing," the ground crew told him. It was in great shape. It was just right for flying at high altitudes and airspeeds. What Ted didn't realize was the incredible stresses the plane's makers had designed it to withstand. Once the plane got up to speed and reached its cruising altitude, its skin would expand, and the resulting heat would cause the dripping to stop. Not only that, but much of the plane consisted of titanium, a metal that actually gets stronger as it heats up.
This story helps me understand the text. How can Christians be poor and rich at the same time? How is it that we should welcome suffering and affliction as riches (James 1:2)? I think Christians are a lot like the SR-71. In ordinary life they don't stand out at all--they may even look like a bigger mess than the average secular person. It is when the trials and stresses of life show up that the real Christian begins to shine.
God doesn't permit His people to go through trials in order to find out what they are made of. He already knows. But one reason He allows trials is so that we can discover what He has been remaking us to be. As we learn to stay close to God in trial He redesigns us so we can fly higher and faster than we could possibly have imagined. If our lives were easier we might never discover the rich fulfillment that comes from soaring at God's altitude.
Lord, You know how to fit us for the kind of life You had in mind when You designed us. Help me to resent the "training" but to see eternal riches in life's setbacks.
I have a friend named Ted who used to fly combat missions in a fighter jet for the United States Marine Corps. Shortly after a practice landing at an Air Force base, he overheard a pilot radio the tower that he was descending through 70,000 feet. Seventy thousand feet? Descending? How high can this guy's plane fly? my friend thought. After making inquires, he discovered that it was the top-secret (at the time) SR-71 reconnaissance plane, able to travel at un-heard-of heights and at extremely fast speeds.
His appetite whetted, Ted pushed his way through a bunch of "red tape" to get permission to look the SR-71 over for himself. Finally his superiors allowed him to walk past the security detail and observe this awesome technological achievement inside a hanger. Its great size and sleekness impressed him. But as he got up close he was stunned and disappointed. The thing was leaking all over the floor. A number of drip pans dotted the floor under it. It looked as if this "bucket of bolts" was ready to fall apart! Then he found out it was being readied for takeoff. He asked what was the matter with it.
"Nothing," the ground crew told him. It was in great shape. It was just right for flying at high altitudes and airspeeds. What Ted didn't realize was the incredible stresses the plane's makers had designed it to withstand. Once the plane got up to speed and reached its cruising altitude, its skin would expand, and the resulting heat would cause the dripping to stop. Not only that, but much of the plane consisted of titanium, a metal that actually gets stronger as it heats up.
This story helps me understand the text. How can Christians be poor and rich at the same time? How is it that we should welcome suffering and affliction as riches (James 1:2)? I think Christians are a lot like the SR-71. In ordinary life they don't stand out at all--they may even look like a bigger mess than the average secular person. It is when the trials and stresses of life show up that the real Christian begins to shine.
God doesn't permit His people to go through trials in order to find out what they are made of. He already knows. But one reason He allows trials is so that we can discover what He has been remaking us to be. As we learn to stay close to God in trial He redesigns us so we can fly higher and faster than we could possibly have imagined. If our lives were easier we might never discover the rich fulfillment that comes from soaring at God's altitude.
Lord, You know how to fit us for the kind of life You had in mind when You designed us. Help me to resent the "training" but to see eternal riches in life's setbacks.
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