Suffering? Category: Life
If You Want Me To
by Ginny Owens
The pathway is broken And The signs are unclear And I don't know the reason why You brought me here But just because You love me the way that You do I'm gonna walk through the valley If You want me to Chorus: Cause I'm not who I was When I took my first step And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet so if all of these trials bring me closer to you Then I will go through the fire If You want me to It may not be the way I would have chosen When you lead me through a world that's not my home But You never said it would be easy You only said I'd never go alone ya oh oh noSo When the whole world turns against me And I'm all by myself And I can't hear You answer my cries for help I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through And I will go through the darkness If You want me to When I cross over Jordan, I'm gonna sing, gonna shoutGonna look into your eyes and see you never let me downSo take me on the pathway that leads me home to youAnd I will walk through the valley if you want me to Yes, I will walk through the valley if you want me to
Well, once again my Papa spoke to me through song and just time alone with Him. I am daily and sometimes minute by minute choosing to go through "anything" as long as my Papa is with me, beside me, strengthening me, and loving me. And He ALWAYS is. Now how many people in our lives can we say the same thing about? Lately, I've written a little about this season in my life...things are a little "hairy" shall we say :)
So, the Lord continues to speak to me about suffering...you know this is a word or topic we rarely heard preached about in the US churches (His Body). Yet, He told us that we WOULD suffer if we truly followed after Him. In order to intimately know Him we have to go through suffering...at different seasons of our lives. I don't like it...don't want it...don't look forward to it...but God's Law is final like gravity. It does NOT matter what you think about it, believe about it., or feel about it ...it will always be truth!!
Anyway, I am choosing to go through suffering so that I can have ALL that my Papa has for me...to fulfill my destiny and calling on this earth...God seems to always use the things that bring me most shame or pain to glorify Himself in me. Because the truth is that this life is not easy...if you are living as a follower of Christ, especially bc God has us go "against the grain" so much. Our culture is sexualized...egocentric...greedy...(what I lovingly refer to as "pleasure-seeking fools")etc.; if we are honest about it. Now this doesn't mean I hate our world, culture, people... it just means that you and I need to be aware of what is going on around us...lest we fall (which I've done too many times). We are to be the light and salt to this world NOT judgemental, pious "jackasses" (even though He loves them too...I can certainly be like this at times...then I repent and cry out to my Papa to change me and my evil, deceitful heart: Jeremiah 17:9). God calls us to be like Him...now that's a tall order, I'd say. One we could NEVER do on our own but lucky for us we have the Holy Spirit to empower and enable us to do that which does not come natural to us, namely suffering. Ouch!! The good news is that He will never let us go through anything that we cannot handle with Him and/or for naught. He is a REDEEMER and is always looking for a way to bless us and to proclaim to the world that He is in the business of TRANSFORMING lives and loves them so! Amen. A part of the price we pay for being transformed is sometimes suffering. Please know that the Lord will not force you to go through suffering...it is your choice...but you cannot know Him intimately, deeply, securely without it. He suffered for us...and we are called to do the same for Him. In the end...He rose from the dead...and know that God only has "good" for us, too, in the end. We are the victors bc of Him who loved us so much that He died for us (John 3:16).
If You Want Me To
by Ginny Owens
The pathway is broken And The signs are unclear And I don't know the reason why You brought me here But just because You love me the way that You do I'm gonna walk through the valley If You want me to Chorus: Cause I'm not who I was When I took my first step And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet so if all of these trials bring me closer to you Then I will go through the fire If You want me to It may not be the way I would have chosen When you lead me through a world that's not my home But You never said it would be easy You only said I'd never go alone ya oh oh noSo When the whole world turns against me And I'm all by myself And I can't hear You answer my cries for help I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through And I will go through the darkness If You want me to When I cross over Jordan, I'm gonna sing, gonna shoutGonna look into your eyes and see you never let me downSo take me on the pathway that leads me home to youAnd I will walk through the valley if you want me to Yes, I will walk through the valley if you want me to
Well, once again my Papa spoke to me through song and just time alone with Him. I am daily and sometimes minute by minute choosing to go through "anything" as long as my Papa is with me, beside me, strengthening me, and loving me. And He ALWAYS is. Now how many people in our lives can we say the same thing about? Lately, I've written a little about this season in my life...things are a little "hairy" shall we say :)
So, the Lord continues to speak to me about suffering...you know this is a word or topic we rarely heard preached about in the US churches (His Body). Yet, He told us that we WOULD suffer if we truly followed after Him. In order to intimately know Him we have to go through suffering...at different seasons of our lives. I don't like it...don't want it...don't look forward to it...but God's Law is final like gravity. It does NOT matter what you think about it, believe about it., or feel about it ...it will always be truth!!
Anyway, I am choosing to go through suffering so that I can have ALL that my Papa has for me...to fulfill my destiny and calling on this earth...God seems to always use the things that bring me most shame or pain to glorify Himself in me. Because the truth is that this life is not easy...if you are living as a follower of Christ, especially bc God has us go "against the grain" so much. Our culture is sexualized...egocentric...greedy...(what I lovingly refer to as "pleasure-seeking fools")etc.; if we are honest about it. Now this doesn't mean I hate our world, culture, people... it just means that you and I need to be aware of what is going on around us...lest we fall (which I've done too many times). We are to be the light and salt to this world NOT judgemental, pious "jackasses" (even though He loves them too...I can certainly be like this at times...then I repent and cry out to my Papa to change me and my evil, deceitful heart: Jeremiah 17:9). God calls us to be like Him...now that's a tall order, I'd say. One we could NEVER do on our own but lucky for us we have the Holy Spirit to empower and enable us to do that which does not come natural to us, namely suffering. Ouch!! The good news is that He will never let us go through anything that we cannot handle with Him and/or for naught. He is a REDEEMER and is always looking for a way to bless us and to proclaim to the world that He is in the business of TRANSFORMING lives and loves them so! Amen. A part of the price we pay for being transformed is sometimes suffering. Please know that the Lord will not force you to go through suffering...it is your choice...but you cannot know Him intimately, deeply, securely without it. He suffered for us...and we are called to do the same for Him. In the end...He rose from the dead...and know that God only has "good" for us, too, in the end. We are the victors bc of Him who loved us so much that He died for us (John 3:16).
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