Yet, O LORD,
you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of
your hand. Isaiah 64:8
How does God shape our character?
We hate the answer but we know it to be
true: affliction.
If you say that God does not intend to use affliction,
then what in your mind does he then use? Joy does wonderful things for our
souls—it soothes, and strengthens, and heals. But joy does not transform
people’s characters in the same way affliction does. You do not grow when life
is good. Any parent knows this. The child wants ice cream and video games. But
the child will grow to be a narcissist if they are allowed nothing but ice
cream and video games. The most radiant holiness, the most genuine and glorious
love is expressed by those whose lives have known affliction. Jesus best among
them.
Our longing for life keeps confusing
us about the purpose of life.
We ache for life to come together as it was
meant to be. And it will, friends; it will. Very soon. But in the
meantime, the purpose of life in this hour is not escaping to Hawaii, or
whatever your version of happiness may be. Our “education” in this hour, the
goal of our maturing is holiness, the beauty of Jesus Christ formed in us,
which is something that requires a great deal of maturity to accept (you see
how few accept it). By all that is holy and beautiful—clearly the
purpose of life is not the removal of all affliction, or would we put ourselves
above Jesus?
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