It took me a lot to learn this. Even longer for it to sink in.
But the truth of the matter is this...
The most holy people on this world that we look up to, the people who the Holy Spirit seems to just ooze out of (You know those people?).
People who may not know how to parse a greek verb. They may not be able to do a word study or give historical background on a text of scripture.
They might not even be the sharpest tool in the shed.
They may not be the best preachers, may not have nailed it like some other preacher could have done with that funeral sermon.
Perhaps the church they attend isn't perfect or prestigious or even healthy...
But there are these people out there who genuinely know God.
Intimately.
Personally.
They are in love with His entire being. They know Him.
It is evident in their prayers, their service, their words, their actions, their treatment of people around them.
And the crazy thing is, most of these people, if you asked them are this way because like Jacob, they wrestled with God and prevailed. (See Genesis 32:28)
... These people have been angry at God and have shouted at Him, been uncomfortable with Him, screamed at Him, gave them a piece of their mind when trials and sufferings have attacked them.
And God is not ashamed to be called their God.
Because God is a big God, and He can handle our honesty.
It is in these moments of frustration with God that our hearts are ever more open to His leading and teaching.
In anger we turn to Him to speak with Him, hoping deep down within our consciences to lay our case before Him so well that He will change His mind and stop whatever trouble is falling on us.
Sometimes it works.
Most of the time however... He says to us, "My grace is sufficient."
He gives us His comfort through the storm.
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This weekend I am in the presence of some of these people, I am attending the International Conference on Missions and absolutely melting inside as I realize the company that I am in:Thousands of missionaries that serve around the globe are here hoping for encouragement and refreshment from this conference as they get ready for the holiday season. I hope to be part of that encouragement, but I also hope that in the process I will learn from them.
Because these men and women who are serving the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully with their entire being know what it means to be frustrated with God sometimes.
But they also know how to worship Him.
Listening to this conference sing in the main sessions is like a little piece of heaven. Thousands of tribes and tongues are represented here... and many more are being prayed for at the Joshua Project's Prayer Wall of Unreached People Groups.Sometimes the toughest thing you'll ever do is turn to Jesus in frustration, anger, hurt, dismay, even in the midst of death and worship Him.
But it is worth it my friends, always worth it.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
-Hebrews 11:32-40
For further on this topic you will be blessed by this sermon from one of my favorite preachers and professors, Chad Ragsdale:
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