The Bible has much to say about ‘suffering’; and who here reading today is not acquainted with some form of suffering to some degree in which we have all experienced at various times in our lives? And yes, the gospel does call the follower of Jesus to a life of ‘suffering’, but it’s not the kind of suffering that many just assume has become your ‘lot in life’. There is an awful lot of needless...suffering that humanity undergoes and much of it is self-inflicted, or due to ‘ignorance’. (Hosea 4:6; John 5:14; Matt. 12:43-45; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 8:13)

But make no mistake about it...should you take that first step to commit your life to following Jesus (which I highly recommend)...there will be a ‘cross’ involved that you too, will be asked to ‘bear’. (Matt. 16:24-26)

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Pet. 4:1-2)

I hate to break this news to you, but if/when you come to Jesus and begin following Him, He’s not thinking about how to set you into some ‘ministry’ so you can reach the masses for the kingdom of heaven with your great musical talents, your speaking abilities, or your great intellect. Nor is He wanting to make you some ‘prominent’ leader in the community that leads a well-respected ‘church’ group. That might be the ‘dream’ some new converts take hold of when they come to Jesus, thinking they will find new meaning and purpose in life by having any of that, but they are in for a rude awakening. (Matt. 10:16-23)

Think in terms of an 18 year old who walks into a recruiting office to join the Navy or the Marines, and they ‘sign up’ with visions of becoming a Navy S.E.A.L. and going around the world taking part in ‘glamorous’ missions. You do realize what awaits them immediately after they join, yes? It’s called ‘boot camp’, or basic training. And the purpose of this required and essential time period...is to ‘weed out’ those who are not fully committed, and then...to ‘strip away and break down’ that individual who remains so they can in turn, reshape, build up and mold that recruit into a soldier that knows how to follow orders. Are you familiar with 2 Timothy 2:1-7, by chance?

Yeah...that is what transpired in my life early on after I ‘signed on’ to follow Jesus. And while there was this new found peace and joy in my life, and a sense of purpose and direction that I had been lacking...I also discovered there was a ‘stripping away’ process that was occurring, and it did bring some ‘suffering’. And having to tell my girlfriend whom I had a serious relationship with at the time...that we could no longer be ‘intimate’ because we were not married was a huge test in this process of ‘following Jesus’.

At the time, she took this news as rejection, coupled with realizing ‘someone else’ had taken her place in my life as being ‘#1’. I on the other hand was facing the prospect of continuing on in this walk with Jesus...without her, and that brought pain and a deep sense of ‘loss’ for me. Did you read that passage I left you with yesterday in Luke 14:25-33?

I remember her asking me if we were going to get married at any point in time; and that was a question I wanted to tap-dance around. From my vantage point, I was ready to move overseas and live in jungles in order to tell people about Jesus...IF...that is what God had planned for me. It was hard to envision her being a part of that since trying to get her to attend church with me took effort. I knew our days were numbered, but I also had this newfound faith and trust that if I just kept my eyes on Jesus...things would ‘work out for the best’. I also had become familiar with the promises found in Matt. 6:31-34. (Seek first...)

I did eventually find a local church that we began to attend. It was certainly different than any place I had ever been to before, but the people were nice and my girlfriend was still willing to attend with me weekly, if for no other reason...doing her best to find common ground and keep us together. But in my heart, I had no reason to believe she was seeking for, nor interested in...having the same encounter with Jesus I had found and experienced. I can’t remember the time period involved in which we made the weekly visits to this church, eventually meeting some other couples that we would fellowship with from time to time, but my heart was stirring and feeling led for the next chapter God had for me, which included leaving Arizona to attend a Bible college I had been made aware of in Texas. I just was unsure how to share this news with ‘her’. But what I do remember quite vividly, was this one particular Sunday morning, and the service was coming to a close...

We always sat towards the back of the church, and at the close of the service, the pastor opened the altars for anyone who felt a need to pray...to come forward. I looked at her and told her I wanted to go down and I remember that sense of ‘whatever-just hurry so we can go’ attitude she conveyed to me in that moment. Heartbroken...I went before God on my knees and ‘wrestled’ once again...to communicate my desire to please Him and to surrender completely...my desires and wants in order to fulfill His perfect will for my life. I basically expressed to the Lord that morning...my willingness to move to Texas alone if that was the plan. I so wanted my girlfriend to be a part of this journey, but NOTHING had indicated she was sharing this same passion and desire I had. So in that moment, I basically ‘set her upon the altar’ and asked God to either change her heart, or else show me how to ’painlessly let her go’ so she would not be hurt in the process; because I really did love her. There are no words to adequately express the conflict I was feeling in that moment.

The next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my shoulder and as I turned, there she was, kneeling down beside me with tears running down her cheeks. She looked at me and in a matter of a few words...expressed to me that while not sure what was happening to her....she told me she wanted to commit her life to Jesus as well. Let me assure you here and now...she had no idea what I had gone forward to pray about, nor what I was wrestling with at the time.

This coming January, we will celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. :- ). See you tomorrow?