Living All Of Life For Christ’s Sake

The last few weeks have been pretty hard. It felt like a strange wind blew and the result was incapacitating illness in the family and a wave of spiritual attacks on various fronts.

So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been completely knocked out and have only started to recover.

Many thanks to those who stood with us in prayers, particularly our pastors, cell group and friends who noticed a longer than usual silence.

Hopefully I keep it short but this post is as much an encouragement for me as it is for you, my readers.

Do not lose heart

I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 4:16 and it’s been such an encouragement to me in this difficult season.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Recently, I’ve certainly felt the reality of this verse; the wasting away of the outer self through weakness and inexplicable pains.

But there has been sweet assurance from the Holy Spirit of His abiding hands, presence and healing. And I’ve found it so — the renewing strength that only God can give.

If you’re going through a rough patch, don’t lose heart. No, we do not lose heart because greater is He in us than all that’s in the world — 1 John 4:4.

Perfected in our weakness

Three times Paul reasoned with and prayed to God for relief and healing from what appeared to cause him physical pain.

God answered but the response wasn’t what Paul was expecting.

Sometimes, we expect answers to our prayers to come in the form we asked. But the very fact we have the privilege of prayer and do communicate with God is an answer in itself // Living All Of Life For Christ's Sake Click To Tweet

God may not show up how and when we expect Him to but He’s always faithful to His purposes over our lives — Ephesians 1:11.

In response to Paul’s pleas, God gave sufficient grace to bear the pain in order to make much of Christ in and through the humbling experience.

Paul was perfected in his pain and God was glorified in his (Paul’s) obedience.

Living all of life for Christ’s sake

When we have a heart for and eyes to God’s glory, regardless of the difficult situations we face, the end result can’t be mistaken: God is glorified and we are satisfied in Him.

That is infinitely much better than any finite reprieve from pain.

Yes, we desire good health, strength and we want all things to work out as planned.

But even if they don’t in the immediacy, our mindset must be aligned with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My utmost desire is to be content to live for Christ’s sake; in health, pain, hardships, wealth and everything in between. He owns me and I want nothing but His purposes to be fulfilled in my life.

I pray you experience His divine presence in every situation you face in your current season.

Photo by Jessica Da Rosa on Unsplash