Larry Crabbs 66 Love Letters - Love Letter 55: 2 Timothy Larry begins: Well, one thing is clear from reading this fifty-fifth letter: Paul was no triumphalist. He wouldnt buy into the popular message delivered from lots of pulpits today. I cant read any of the letters You wrote through Paul, especially this one, and come away thinking the Christian message is a quick and satisfying solution to all lifes problems. I come away instead wondering if Youve promised protection from anything bad. And Youre telling me again - this time even more directly - that following Your Son is no picnic... ...Father, this is really an astonishing letter. Heres Paul, chained in a desolate, hard-to-find Roman dungeon [1:16-17] after years of beatings, imprisonments, hateful opposition, vicious slander, at least one shipwreck, days without food or drink, clothed in rags, feelings of unbearable pressure, and many sleepless nights [1 Cor. 4:11-13; 2 Cor. 1:8-10; 6:3-5]. And now hes waiting to be murdered by Rome for the crime of telling people Your story. For Paul to even entertain triumphalism, to think for a moment that You promised Your faithful followers a comfortable life and a pleasant retirement, would require psychotic-level denial. Maybe thats our problem today. Things generally go well for us, at least well enough to assume that they should continue to go well - no permanent stock market downturns, no cancer diagnoses, no drug-abusing kids. It takes only a little denial to believe that our spirit of entitlement is compatible with or even the outcome of our trust in You.... ...Youve given me the extraordinary privilege of reading the last words written by perhaps the greatest Christian who ever lived. I want to hear, no, I *need* to hear, what Youre saying to me in this letter. God responds: I am for you. My Son is with you. My Spirit is in you. Never forget that as you hear My instructions. My instructions are always an invitation to *life*: *Fight the good fight now. Enjoy the good life forever.* Larry: Father, are You telling me to live a good life now that I cant enjoy until Im dead? God: For now, endurance and enjoyment are linked. Did My Son experience no joy while He lived on earth? Did Paul? The Ephesian Christians to whom Timothy was ministering believed the full joy of complete salvation was available to them in this life. It isnt. But dont make the opposite mistake. A sustaining joy is available now, a joy that Paul knew and My Son knew better. The life I want you to live now is a life both to endure and enjoy. At times, such strong endurance will be required that joy will seem a far-off hope, a lost experience. But without endurance, you will know little of the very real joy I provide. With endurance, a joy will develop that frees you to appreciate the pleasures of lifes blessings without requiring from them a satisfaction they cannot provide. And that same joy, more deeply felt as a longing whose complete satisfaction is guaranteed, frees you to endure whatever hardships lie ahead without indulging your still-alive spirit of entitlement by justifying illegitimate relief. The eternal life I give you can be enjoyed now to the degree you endure the hardships of fighting the good fight...
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 23:26:12 +0000