By Amy Carmichael, missionary
Thunder clouds are nothing to the Spirit of Joy. The only special reference to the joy of the Holy Spirit is bound up with words "severe suffering":
...in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message [of fellowship with Jesus Christ] with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 1 Thess. 1:6
Joy is not gush.
Joy is not mere jolliness.
Joy is perfect acquiescence - acceptance, rest - in God's will, whatever comes. And that is so, only for the soul who delights himself in God.
Jesus, our Lord, took God as His God as well as His Father, and that brought Him to say His delight was "to do the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38) - even though that meant the cross, and such agony as no man has ever known. To do the will of God cost Him blood. It cost Him blood.
Accept for yourself the Fatherhood of God, which is only possible for you and me because of the sacrifice of the blessed Son our Savior. And by the presence of the Holy Spirit within, you will learn to rejoice in the will of God, and nothing else...
This, then, is the call to the soul that would ascend above all earthly circumstance, to walk in heavenly places: Leave yourself open to the circumstances of His choice, for that is perfect acceptance, and rest in the will of God.
If you do so, you are not a fool - you are in the company of the brave!
For accepting the will of God in this way, "You become imitators of us," Paul writes, "and of the Lord" (1 Thess 1:6).
Are you following in their path?
Amy Carmichael, Gold by Moonlight pp. 74-75
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Hmm.... I feel like there is such a difference between this attitude of knowing that suffering will come with accepting Christ and the attitude I have known... the attitude that serving Christ is "fun" and exciting, that despite all those troubles that will come, things for the most part will be rosy and good as long as you follow God...
ReplyDeleteI guess this is kind of a realization for me. Maybe it's just me growing up? Realizing that life isn't all fantasy and fun.
At the same time, is it really necessary to go in and say, "I'm going to serve God, and it's going to be suffering from now on"? I've known Christians who have two types of mentalities: the first are those who believe that following Christ is all about suffering for His name and we just humbly accept it, and the second are those who believe that yes, great sacrifice and suffering will come, but as we serve Him we get to see all the glory and joy of God, which implies that life isn't so bad; also, we as followers of Christ have the power to make the world a better place and spread Christ's joy.
What do you think?