Can you endure suffering?
This is a question that we have to ask ourselves on this journey. So many of us try to escape the process of suffering but miss the point that in order to know Christ, we must know Him in every aspect. As a child, we learned the most valuable lessons...when we suffered (through discipline) from doing something we weren't supposed to do. Through spankings and beat-downs (as we got older) we learned to understand what our parents will and won't accept from us. Well, it's the same way with Christ! You can't reign and rule with Him unless you suffer with Him!
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, be careful what you pray for. Let me give you an example; say for instance somebody says they want to be like Pastor Rich. So you ask the Lord for the same level of transparency that I have when it comes to revealing weaknesses that you still deal with. Or you can ask the Lord for the same level of authority and boldness that I walk in. Realize one thing, you have to go through what I’ve gone through (or equivalent) to get it! You’re not going to get it free of charge! Salvation is the only thing free!
I could write a book and just might one day on the countless nights I spent wanting to kill myself. For some of you who haven’t kept up, I’ve discussed this before but I was molested as a youngster and didn't know what to do or who to talk to so I let the enemy talk to me and tell me that no one loved me and that it was no use, that I should just give up now and escape so I wouldn't bring any shame to my dad and mom...or when I would be out in the clubs having unprotected sex with everybody! You weren't there when I had to, as a pastor's son, live a double life...it was all a charade...I knew how to act the part of a church goer...I knew how to throw my hands up and shout and everything to play the role...so I could just make it through for the moment!!! I had told the Lord that I didn't want to be just the average preacher that got his ministerial license out of a cracker-jack box! You weren't there when I was at the clinic for contracting an STD (time and time again) and kept telling the Lord if He could just keep me from the hand of the doctor's swab!!!!! I won't do it again...and then I'd go right back out and "KICK IT" all night! Wow! So much I went through needlessly...but it brought me to know Christ in a very real way! You weren't there...when the doctors told me that there was nothing they could do...but God!
You see, this gives me the validity to speak with the authority that I speak with...you weren't there when the glorious church of God eulogized me and basically counted me as a has been and said I'd never be anything...you weren't there when I had to nurse my father...and help him use the restroom and change his bed sheets and watch my mother's body get worn out by having to basically pick him up and move him from place to place...and you weren't there when I received notice in a Cleveland airport that my father (of whom I had just kissed on the forehead 2 hours before and said I'd call him that evening) had died of a massive heart attack. You weren't there for any of it! But God was there WITH ME through it all!
Suffering? If you ain’t been through nothin’ then you don’t know a thing about suffering! We tend to run away from pain and suffering. All over you have people that don’t want any scars but until you have scars you are not authentically apart of the body of Christ! Have you ever thought about it from that perspective? If not, just go Hmmmm.
So I close by asking you…can you endure suffering?
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, be careful what you pray for. Let me give you an example; say for instance somebody says they want to be like Pastor Rich. So you ask the Lord for the same level of transparency that I have when it comes to revealing weaknesses that you still deal with. Or you can ask the Lord for the same level of authority and boldness that I walk in. Realize one thing, you have to go through what I’ve gone through (or equivalent) to get it! You’re not going to get it free of charge! Salvation is the only thing free!
I could write a book and just might one day on the countless nights I spent wanting to kill myself. For some of you who haven’t kept up, I’ve discussed this before but I was molested as a youngster and didn't know what to do or who to talk to so I let the enemy talk to me and tell me that no one loved me and that it was no use, that I should just give up now and escape so I wouldn't bring any shame to my dad and mom...or when I would be out in the clubs having unprotected sex with everybody! You weren't there when I had to, as a pastor's son, live a double life...it was all a charade...I knew how to act the part of a church goer...I knew how to throw my hands up and shout and everything to play the role...so I could just make it through for the moment!!! I had told the Lord that I didn't want to be just the average preacher that got his ministerial license out of a cracker-jack box! You weren't there when I was at the clinic for contracting an STD (time and time again) and kept telling the Lord if He could just keep me from the hand of the doctor's swab!!!!! I won't do it again...and then I'd go right back out and "KICK IT" all night! Wow! So much I went through needlessly...but it brought me to know Christ in a very real way! You weren't there...when the doctors told me that there was nothing they could do...but God!
You see, this gives me the validity to speak with the authority that I speak with...you weren't there when the glorious church of God eulogized me and basically counted me as a has been and said I'd never be anything...you weren't there when I had to nurse my father...and help him use the restroom and change his bed sheets and watch my mother's body get worn out by having to basically pick him up and move him from place to place...and you weren't there when I received notice in a Cleveland airport that my father (of whom I had just kissed on the forehead 2 hours before and said I'd call him that evening) had died of a massive heart attack. You weren't there for any of it! But God was there WITH ME through it all!
Suffering? If you ain’t been through nothin’ then you don’t know a thing about suffering! We tend to run away from pain and suffering. All over you have people that don’t want any scars but until you have scars you are not authentically apart of the body of Christ! Have you ever thought about it from that perspective? If not, just go Hmmmm.
So I close by asking you…can you endure suffering?
posted by Pastor Rich at 2:25 PM
1 Comments:
Amen again pastor rich! But I must say (from my own experience)make sure that the suffering being endured is not self imposed! You know how we sometimes want to play the part of the myrtar, always going through something. I learned my lesson the hard way, no one wants to be around a self pity, always gloomy, always asking for prayer person. In my own life I found that being like this allowed me to not deal with the REAL issues that had me bound. Well not anymore, I can truly say that I have been set free from self! My issues of pride, control, jeoulsy, envy and strife had to be dealt with and now I feel as if I can soar, do you hear me SOAR. Yeah I still have issues but today I meet them head on, no matter the pain and suffering, because I know in the end it is not only for my ow good, but also good for the kingdom, my work in the kingdom, those who are waiting on deliverace that have been assigned to me. Much Love, Pastor Rich and keep on keeping it REAL!!
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