“God treats his most faithful servants like crap. They suffer all the time. Go down the line: Joseph (unjustly accused and thrown into prison), Moses (banished by God for 40 years into the desert for some “character development”), Samuel gives his life for his people and they never really listen to him, David constantly running for his life from a King God appointed, Solomon like his father had kids who hated him and hated each other, Jeremiah quite possibly a sufferer of clinical depression, Hosea is told to marry a whore so that Israel has a picture of God’s love, Ezekiel’s wife dies in the middle of his ministry.” (author withheld)
So the glass is half empty?
Never mind that Joseph, because of God’s desire to interpret dreams through him, rose to a level of power and authority in the world that no Hebrew could dream of.
Let’s not talk about how the creator and guider of the waters lead Moses’ basket into the arms of a Pharaoh’s daughter, split the waters at the touch of his staff or brought the entire Jewish legal system into existence through his relationship.
Don’t look at how Samuel’s entire life was anointed by God - that such a simple boy, from such an unlikely past, would become one of God’s most powerful voices in a dark and unjust time.
And David - you mean the Hebrew hillbilly who became the namesake king in the lineage of our Savior? His son Solomon, the wisest man ever to live - given his wisdom as a gift from God, unparallel to any other gift in Scripture.
Then, Jeremiah came along, the one man in all of time that God entrusted with His vision - not only for generations to come, but for all of humanity.
And Hosea, the man to whom God gave such a vivid and powerful message of His will that generations today are still gasping at his clarity, integrity and resolve.
But all these things are but waste compared to the unmachless reward these men receive because of their faith. It wasn’t the earthly rewards, the accolades of man or the promotion of self that drove any of these men - therefore the earthy struggles, insults from men and demotion of self did not deter them from their faith in God.
If the glass is half empty, it is only for the brief time these men served their God on earth. Now the glass is full - even overflowing.
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How we view things impacts how people around us view things. How we talk about God changes the way people who listen to our voice interact with God. It is critical we do not get caught up in negativity, but focus our lives on the greatness of God and the name of Jesus as the only truly good thing in life and the promise for all of creation’s restoration.
What are your thoughts? What would you change or add?
this is good stuff Steve.
I wonder which way would you suggest you are leaning this conversation? Seems you started talking about enduring suffering in (for) faith, but then (concerning the last paragraph), avoiding negativity.
Is the negativity you mention an attitude of being joyful dong God’s work through difficult circumstances, or something else?
We want our actions and our attitudes to convey a (positive, healthy) loving image in (and out of) the church so the world sees how powerful and wonderful the transforming power of Christ is. No doubt about that, and that is focusing on Christ, counting it a blessing to suffer, and avoid getting a bad attitude (i.e., ‘negativity’).
What is interesting is that the characters you sketched had to throw down some (extreme in some cases) negativity (in love, I am guessing) :O), to call out those astray in the OT and NT, and Jesus all the way through to the Apostles, and (thankfully), the Reformation. Still happens in a variety of ways today.
Thoughts?
BTW as an engineer I would say just design and build a new glass anyways… :O)
I agree with Mark in designing a new glass
It does seem that God treats his followers like crap but that is because we are looking at things from the wrong perspective. It’s not that God treats us that way. When we choose to step out and follow God wherever, we become targets for the Enemy.
OK, so God allows crap to happen. Yes, he does. But he gets to have the last word. He gets to say when enough is enough. He gets to restore creation to what it was meant to be. He gets to recreate us into the beings we were meant to be. In the meantime, we get to be a part of bringing His Kingdom to Earth as a taste of what Eternity will be like.
I think it’s more than just looking at the glass as half full, all the way full or whatever. It’s about rethinking what the glass even looks like… that is even if there is a glass
Guys, thanks so much for your feedback. I want to spend some time thinking through your thoughts and do another post.
Great thoughts.