Reading Acts 14:1-7
What jumped out at me was verse 3 "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders."
Really? How cool is that? Must be nice, aye? They tell people about the power of the risen Christ and then they do some miracles so they have some street cred.
If that's how God works, I should assume that's still possible. But, we don't believe it ourselves, so we wouldn't trust enough to ask for miracles.
When did that get so lost? So many of us simply "believe in God" and consider all of the bible stuff ancient history.
But Paul enters the story at the same point we do. So, where did his power come from? Same as ours. The power given by the holy spirit.
But I don't live as if that power is real. I'm skeptical, maybe even cynical. Yet, if I reflect, I've seen so many miracles!
So many lives transformed, redeemed, rescued, changed, lifted out of darkness.
That's probably why I like the book 'The Hiding Place" so much. Corrie Ten Boom talks about so many instances where she just had supernatural understanding, knowledge, protection, direction, power, strength, and ability.
But, did it protect her from suffering? Not at all!
She lost everything!
She lost her dignity, health, home, safety, and her loved ones. They were killed. They weren't protected. The miracles were not always the ones she desperately pleaded for. But, somehow, she continued to put her faith and TRUST in God!
And he led her to heal so many from the trauma of the war and the holocaust. She could not have been open to any of that had she simply looked at her own loss and pain and blamed it on God.
How in the world was she so strong?
That's true freedom.
Living in acceptance of the reality of the deep pain, yet being open to the continued possibility that God is good, can be trusted, and will guide her.
Oh, her story about forgiving that guard! She had absolutely no reason to forgive. She had no desire either. Everything in her held on and wanted to hate him. She couldn't even make herself want to forgive. But, she just asked the holy spirit to help her. And, she reached out her hand to shake his - and it was electric. The surge of the love of God went through her and literally gave her the supernatural power to love that unlovable person. She couldn't do it, but God could! And, although she resisted because she couldn't imagine letting this guy off the hook for all of the torment and torture, it was her own heart that was set free. She had never before experienced that depth of love. She let go of the hatred, blame, anger, and score card. She forgave. And it set her free!
Oh, that's the freedom we deeply desire! But it really is supernatural. We can't do it. Our minds and hearts hold on to grudges, hurts, and fear. How can we forgive? It seems to give permission to be hurt again! Often we just can't cognitively get to a place of forgiveness. But, I personally want the freedom of letting go of offense. I want the supernatural love that flows from a spirit that can't hate or fear.
It doesn't erase past suffering. It doesn't promise a future without suffering. But it releases the current suffering that tortures the soul while holding on to hate, fear and blame. That just suffocates. I want deep breaths of life. That can only come through a spirit of love. It just doesn't flow through a spirit of hate. Hate turns to bitterness. It feeds off negative. It searches for wrongs and injustices.
I won't ignore wrongs and injustices or pretend they don't exist. But I pray and hope that I can live a life of forgiveness and a flow of supernatural, miraculous love that is free to experience joy even when there's crap that is cruel, unfair, and hate-filled. I want to choose to acknowledge it, but not let it take over.
I've been listening to a podcast series about Buddhism. And it's interesting that this is the foundation of the Buddhist practice. The four noble truths. The first is that life brings suffering. The second is that being attached leads to suffering. The last two are about the path to the cessation of suffering.
To me, it's simply another way to travel the path of forgiveness I'm talking about.
Life isn't fair. It's in a constant state of change. Death and birth. When we grasp on to something that isn't fair, our suffering intensifies. We can choose to stay in that grasping, clinging place - wishing things weren't the way they are. Or we can find a way to release that grasp.
God wants to give us his supernatural power to let go. To release our grasp. To forgive. But, we fear, and we grasp. And, according to the four pillars, this grasping is what leads to so much suffering.
No matter how tightly I grasp on to the truth that something isn't fair, isn't right, is painful, I can't change it. But, I don't think we can always let go on our own. Sometimes it's a surrender to a power greater than ourselves. And, that's a miracle!
There are miraculous healings happening all around us - where people are set free from their suffering, released from their torment of hatred towards themselves or others, unburied from a suffocating weight of regret, blame or fear.
I've witnessed these miracles. It's more beautiful that anything I can imagine. There's such power evident. It gives my faith a jump start - a renewed energy.
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