Struggle Well! Wait in Hope!

A blog friend emailed this to me today and I thought it was so beautiful and spiritually mature. While sometimes well-intentioned Christians want to cover up the pain with spiritual language and slap Bible verses on pain, this is such a deeper spiritually formative way to handle pain and struggle...

"God says, never ignore your struggle with how I do things. Ask every question that rises in your heart as you live in this world. But prepare yourself to struggle even more with My response. You must stumble in confusion before you dance with joy.

Know this: those who live by faith will struggle in ways that those who live to make their lives work will never know. It is that struggle, to believe despite desperate pain and confusion that a good plan is unfolding, that will open your eyes to see Me more clearly. Is that what you want? Will you pay the price?

The price is this: you will tremble in agony as you live in a sinful, self-prioritizing world. You will learn to wait in emptiness and frustrated desire for My plan of love to reveal itself. With confidence in Me and hope in My plan, you will not only feel the pain of living in the valley but also see My glory from the mountaintop of faith.

Only those who struggle in confusion and wait in hope will be strengthened to struggle well and to wait with confidence.

Struggle well! Wait in hope!"

[from 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God that Invites You into His Story by Dr. Larry Crabb, copyright 2009]

A Blessing

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships - so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people - so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war - so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world - so that you can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen.

Amazing Grace

Last night I watched "Amazing Grace" [linked above], which is about William Wilberforce's efforts to abolish African slave trade in the late 1700s. It was an emotional, gripping, heartbreaking, and profound movie. I was captivated by the connection between the classic hymn and this man's passion to bring justice to a global travesty.

The movie captured Wilberforce's heart, journey, and challenges as he faced incomprehensible opposition from "Christian" men in English parliament to bring humanity back to the slaves and re-instate their dignity, freedom, and respect. These quotes below echo my heart...

Africa, your sufferings have been a theme that have engaged & arrested my heart. Your sufferings no tongue can express.

How can we live in houses like this when others are living in boxes?

What inspired me the most is that an ordinary man responded to the cries of those who needed freedom. He used his privilege, his power, his passion, and his belief in a Just God to bring the necessary change to the world. I wonder what the world would look like if we all said "YES!" to whatever God asks of us?!?

Unfortunately, slavery is a bigger issue now than it even was in Wilberforce's day - 200 years ago! A great organization that is making headway into solving this problem is Not For Sale. I'd encourage you to check it out. Who knows, you may be the next William Wilberforce.