The words, "the Lord is in the right" have to be
some of the hardest words we will ever speak.
We are willing to maintain and believe our innocence and the injustice
of suffering until we finally reach the point we see we have failed to honor and
trust in Him and are utterly broken in spirit.
Our failure to see the truth comes because we compare ourselves only
with others. We compare ourselves with
sinners and find our own lives to be above reproach comparatively when that is
not God's standard. We compare ourselves
with those not outwardly suffering and we find our pain to be unjust, the work
of satan. The most difficult thing God
has to do is convict His people of their sin.
When no one will comfort us and we turn to Him alone we are beginning
the journey of truth. So long as we seek
comfort elsewhere we will maintain falsehood, the falsehoods of innocence and
injustice. Jeremiah could have been the
"I told you so" guy but he chose identification with sinners.
Jesus exposed the duplicity of the leaders. With respect to John the Baptist they had a
dilemma from the outset. John's father
was a priest and his encounter with an archangel in the temple as he served was
well known to everyone in Jerusalem. John's
birth was announced to his father by an archangel and the prophecy came to
pass. It was difficult to dismiss John
for this very reason, he was to be extraordinary from the start. When he actually began to preach, however, it
was an uncongenial message for those who thought themselves to be
righteous. Not many would openly have
referred to the leaders as a brood of vipers.
In spite of their misgivings they had gone to be baptized by him because
the people believed his word. Jesus was
easier to oppose on the grounds of authority, His birth story wasn't as well
known nor was He from an important family.
Here, when they ask Jesus what authority He claims for teaching and
throwing out the moneychangers, He exposes the lie of their hearts concerning
John. Whatever innocence they had to
hold onto was torn away. The fig leaf
was gone.
Paul is willing to submit his desires and plans to the Lord
for approval. He is willing to allow the
Lord to direct his steps in whichever direction pleases God even if it
conflicts with Paul's own desires and plans.
He went to Asia not because it was necessarily his plan but because the
Lord led him there and it went badly in some places. He was arrested, beaten, imprisoned, stoned,
opposed at every turn, in short, persecuted for Jesus' sake. His reaction to that persecution is that the
Lord delivered him and he knows that he will again deliver him. He is suffering for the sake of righteousness
and in that he takes glory and comfort. It
is not for the sin of disobedience so God has delivered him from the hand of
his enemies. He would rather disappoint
the Corinthians than disobey God, no matter the cost. Where is God telling you to be and where is
your authority for being where you are today?
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