4 Realities of Life When We Find Ourselves at the Edge
How close to falling off of the cliff have you been recently?
2 Corinthians 4 says: 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
I remember when I stopped at the Grand Canyon a number of years ago, and the vista point I was at had a fence that was as close to the edge as possible without allowing for you to fall off of it. I was amazed at how much I could see as I got right up to the fence and looked down.
St. Paul, as he writes in 2 Corinthians 4, gives us a glimpse of what those early followers of Jesus went through each day they were spreading the words of the Gospel. Every day they were taken to the edge, but never over it. This gives us an important point of encouragement as we struggle with our daily lives: The devil can’t take you over the cliff if you don’t allow him to. God puts a fence up and says: no further. Satan may take everything worldly, but there is still that power of Christ he does not have power over. These words are the every day reality for God’s people.
What it means is that there is always a cliff in our general direction and there is always the threat that we will get pushed off of it with enough force. There is always an active force working against what we believe about God, the very distinct path to salvation, and the transcendent morality we are called to protect and live out. In some places, that active force is much stronger, has more support, and less opposition. It seeks to move us from the safety of God’s protection to a place removed from His presence.
The reality is, that when we embrace the way of Jesus, that active force will be felt more fully. When we fully embrace the ways of Christ, there will be things we cannot participate in. We must understand that we have to separate ourselves from certain places and activities, and we will have to watch as some of those we love and/or admire participate in those things. Some people yearn for being just beyond that fence, with the allure of a little bit of danger, testing to see if they can fly, and any number of temptations that come with living on the edge (literally).
What does this mean for us?
(1) Satan arranges for conditions that will hurt us, but he is the one who gets trampled
Afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Satan wants us to feel so persecuted that anything looks better than Jesus Christ. He has a way of arranging things so that we get hurt, a lot, but God makes sure that there is still life left after all of the worst is handed over to us. St. Paul wants to remind us that, even under the worst conditions, the eternal battle has long been taken out of our hands and placed in the realm of our Lord. Genesis 3:15 reminds us that the Savior, who would fix the problem of sin, would crush the head of the serpent. Satan, when we are in Christ and place our total trust in Him, is the only one who gets run over by the bulls. We are not removed from the danger, but we are removed from the totality of the wrath that looks to eternal desperation for its endorsement.
(2) Life is like infinity
Life is like infinity; it can’t be solved. There is no magic formula that makes the world go ’round. There will always be enigmas. There will always be circumstances that are perplexing. There will always be more that we are asked to understand, comprehend, and overcome. But the good news is that we can grasp the eternal significance of the struggle. We know that there is a war over eternal life and eternal death that we are called to intercede in, and so we can envision a time when it will all be brought to completion. That makes all of what perplexes us about the journey easier to deal with. It means we need not despair; our hope lies in the Lord and the journey that He leads us on has a reason for every step. We look forward to the day we can see the panorama of it all.
(3) God does not leave His earthly bride at the altar
No one likes the thought of being victimized or tormented, but it happens. It may not happen in bodily form, but we all recognize when a spiritual force has worked against us. It’s at those times, that if it were to happen in the flesh, we would hope that someone would rise up to our defense. God takes special care for His bride, the church, and He promises us that when the world victimizes us, He will not seek His own safety at the expense of ours. He will be there to rescue as we need, and remain trustworthy for all time. We are promised that God does not abandon, forsake, or desert His holy people. He will be there with us through it all.
(4) You may get beaten, but you’ll never be beaten
There is a big difference between getting beaten and being beaten. One is temporary and the other brings with it a finality from which we cannot escape. If our trust is in God, there will always be a point of return and restoration. Those who live with persecution know that there will be times in which they may get beaten, but all it does is strengthen their resolve in the tenacity of the Gospel. It is not a faith borne of foolishness, but of grace that sees the Heavenly Jerusalem and the consolation of all that has been created. The Uncreated One will reign in perfect glory, and we will be given the fulfilled and promised relief that everything in this world has been looking forward to. It is the end to which we all seek, for with it is a knowledge of better things to come, and a place where what has already been beaten will find its humiliation and destruction.
———————–
One of the other important points of this text is the reality that the further your spiritual journey with God goes, the more death is going to work in you. Those early missionaries saw how hard the devil was struggling to have dominance over their lives, and they were willing to embrace it for the sake of Jesus’ message. Those who are persecuted or are witnesses for Christ, take on the burden of death working in them so that nothing but light might work in those they minister to. Let us examine how death is working in us, so that light might be seen in those around us. Amen.
Recent Comments