Don’t miss graduation…
Read time: 6 mins
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Romans 8:18 KJV
I believe one of the most common misconceptions is that being a Christian will make your life on earth pain-free. We read verses like “I pray that you prosper in all things and be in good health even as your soul prospers” and point to an idea that God owes us earthly prosperity. We give with the idea that God will give us back everything we give Him, exactly in the way we expect. And we pray with the idea that God is obligated to give everything we ask for, exactly when and how we ask for it. This is essentially a work-based theology because the prosperity gospels assume that God can essentially be controlled if you have enough faith.
The word “gospel” literally means “the good announcement.” The good news of salvation is a message of prosperity. It’s a liberation from slavery. It’s winning the lottery and being adopted into royalty. It’s being drafted to the winning team. Jesus came to give you an abundant life. Jesus wants you to be blessed. He wants you to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, a lender and not a borrower. The issue comes when I start to believe that effort on my part can bully God into submission and force Him to produce the blessings I desire just as I desire them. We treat God as a vending machine, asserting that If I put the right effort in and push the correct sequence of spiritual buttons, it's only a matter of momentary time until I get exactly what I want.
While there are good practices prescribed in the Bible, and God does say His law is for our good, we have to be careful that we don't lean into treating our spirituality like a science. What I mean is that every experience and experiment seen in the Bible won't always be replicated. Religion doesn’t force God into your requirements. The proverbs outline practices with a probability for prosperity but if you flip a page over to Ecclesiastes, you will learn that the rain is still expected to fall on the just and the unjust. You can read stories of Abraham’s wealth and influence. You can see how the blessing of God was dripping from Abraham wherever he went. And that blessing is on you too. But you can also read stories of Job, a man who the Bible says was blameless. It says that He sacrificed extra just in case his perfect family messed up unintentionally. He was perfect and still doing extra credit assignments. But his good deeds and prosperity did not absolve him from heartache, hurt, sickness, and pain.
Being a good person isn’t always an acceptance letter into a world of prosperity nor is it an exemption from pain. It’s not that simple. There isn’t a cheat code to avoid all the pain that life has to offer. We have this idea that if we do the right things or go to the right places, we can be automatically made immune to problems, but we can't run from suffering. Smoking, drinking, and snorting people get cancer, and health message following Christians get cancer. Gambling, reckless, cheats go broke, and stewarding, tithing, hardworking Christians can go broke. You may think you're better because you weren’t as fast as others and avoided STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and drama, but when you get married you may still face the misery of miscarriage. Christians can't always escape experiencing pain. The rain will fall on us all. Pain will be our portion at some point. And though we have peace, there’s no promise that there won’t be storms. Both Christians and non-Christians will experience hurt, pain, heartaches, heartbreaks, sickness, suffering insecurity, injury, and even death. The only difference between Christians and non-Christians found in this arena is perspective.
Paul would’ve known this more than anyone as an expert teacher and preacher who dedicated his life to ministry. Someone so pious that they were given sneak peeks of heaven. Someone so spiritual that demons mentioned him in the same breath as Jesus when naming their Mount Rushmore of power. But like Jesus, he was hated, abandoned, beaten, and flogged within an inch of his life. Paul was shipwrecked, snake-bitten, sued, and constantly thrown in prison. Paul couldn’t avoid hardship.
Paul experienced all the pain and hatred you’d expect a non-Christian to experience. The difference was his perspective. The difference was that he was able to have the mindset of Joseph that said what was meant for evil will be weaved into something for my good. He was able to be like James and count it all joy when trials came because he knew no pain would be wasted. He didn't believe that God allowed only good things, but He did believe that everything God allowed would be reused, renewed, and recycled for his good. Paul was able to make it, not because he didn't have storms but because he had the perspective to understand that the present sufferings are nothing to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to him later. He knew it was worth it.
Paul was able to view the pain as more bearable because he knew it would amount to something. Hard jobs are worth it when you know you’ll get a good check. People willingly sign up for the pain of medical school when they consider the possibility of achieving their dream of being a doctor. The agony and discipline of saving are made worth it when you buy your dream house. Athletes train day in and day out for a chance to win a championship. People try to get pregnant knowing that birth hurts because the pains are made worth it when you see the face of your newborn. We have a different perspective. We follow God not because it's an exemption from pain, but because of the hope we have in the promise that our pain will be used for a purpose.
We will all experience pain. The rain will fall on the just and the unjust, but we believe that the peace, rest, and joy of eternity in the presence of Jesus in heaven will be worth the 70 or so years of hurt here. I hope that this has encouraged some of you but it's not my point in this writing. We go through the gauntlet of studying and sacrificing because we believe the goal of graduation is worth it. But what if you miss graduation? Is the pain still worth it then?
imagine all the pain and time of childbirth with no baby. Imagine the stress and strenuous work for that job but never getting paid. Imagine the grueling hours and effort in the gym with zero results. Imagine 5,6, or even 7 years of college, all-night study sessions powered by energy drinks and expired ramen, constricting student loan debt, disappointment, depression, and doubt but not experiencing graduation. Would it be worth it then?
Let me ask you a question, are you going through pain for fun? You’ll get pain regardless, but do you want it to be worth something? The only way this will be worth it is if you accept Jesus and make your home in eternity with Him. Jesus is the factor that changes the perspective of believers. We will all experience heartache, suffering, depression, darkness and pain. But only a few of us will be able to say it's worth it.
You’ll go through a lot here on earth, but I’m pleading that it’ll be made worth something by choosing Jesus. Accept Him today. Be baptized in His spirit. Be confident that your calling and election is sure. Don’t go through this without a graduation.
Don’t miss graduation. The pain of this college season on earth will only really be worth it if you get to walk the stage and graduate into eternity with Christ. Put your hope in Him today and I promise He will start to restore the years of pain you experienced.
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There is a teacher named Sanna who has immigrated here from the continent of Africa. He has been teaching in Cincinnati while in the process of trying to bring his wife and kids here with him. He is a regular at church and is instrumental in making sure we have breakfast every morning before service. But he let a few of us know that he has been walking 30 minutes each day to go to his school in this snowy Ohio weather. He hasn’t complained one bit and has done so much to serve the church and kids in this community.
I want us to band together. By faith, I believe we can get him a car.
So here’s the plan. I need us to click the link below and start consistently donating to the “ROAR Ministries” tab (or $shilohsda513 on Cash App). I want you to pray and ask God how much He wants you to give. I believe we will be able to showcase the surprising and providing love of God to many through this initiative. Appreciate you. I’ll keep you updated!
