If we skip over learning the Word of God, we skip over living in the will of God. Not learning the Word of God and not living in the will of God, leaves us with few options when it comes to dealing with the tough stuff of life. A person who lives with diminished options lives with diminished passion. Diminished passion shows up as discouragement, pettiness and complaining. Such a person tends to focus on what is wrong rather than what is right. For example, we all have wounds. Whether our wounds are physical or emotional, we are no strangers to the pain that comes from being hurt. Too many people then approach God from the standpoint of God not doing what God should do to make things right. Or there are other people who don’t bother with God at all because they are convinced a good God would not allow our world to operate as it does with the presence of so much hurt. I get that, but there is another way to approach reality. In Isaiah 53:5 we read this, “But (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, by His wounds we are healed.” Not learning the Word of God can leave us ignorant of the price that has been paid so that we might find hope and healing in a world where every one of us makes bad choices. True healing is possible but it comes through deep wounding. It is a “both and” proposition rather than an “either or” proposition. God is both good and wounded for our choices so that we might fight both healing and hope even though we live in a world filled with what is wrong. The place of our wounding can also become the place of our salvation. This is the transformation that leads to passion even in the midst of trouble. When we live with such passion we raise the bar on our discipleship.
- RevDrGeraldWatford