The Inconveniences of Life

We are at the beginning of summer 2014.  That means we'll have the same weather forecast for the next three months.  It goes like this:  Low of 75 degrees, high of 90-95 with 95 percent humidity.  Strong chance of thundershowers in the afternoon.

With all the rain comes a much more lush lawn.  We normally don't have to water during the summer, just the opposite of those in the North.  Floridians also do their outside work and workouts during the morning and evening as much as possible.  Can I say "nesting indoors?!"

For our church, we meet together on Sundays, and usually it's the Myres and the Blikstads in worship.  We enjoy each others' fellowship, and want to truly be a church.  If you read this, and would like to join us, you are welcome.  We meet on Sundays at 9:30 A.M. at our home.

The message for June 22nd is about "inconvenience."  We as Americans do not like to be inconvenienced.  Who can honestly say we like waiting in line?  If you go to the store to buy something or order it online, who wants the store to be out of the product we need, or for the online company to have it on back order?  When it comes to food, we want ours FAST.  No waiting, and no mistakes.  Get it right the first time or I'll put up a fuss.

We live in a fallen world that is full of mistakes, and we've committed our own share of them.  All one has to do is examine our lives in comparison to God's standards, and we see that we've bungled our orders and our own lives, to say nothing about how we throw wrenches into the lives of others.

Our Righteous God saw the way mankind messed it all up, and provided a way for us to be bought and brought back to Himself.  He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, into the world to bear the reproach and rejection of men.  Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for man's sin.  For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down on the right hand of the throne of God.  He suffered hostility from sinners against Himself, and all that we might be His own once again (Hebrews 12:2-3).

One of the messages of the cross is that God suffered the ultimate inconvenience for us--that is giving His Son for us--that we might be saved.

Does that give a little different perspective to the inconveniences we face in life?  Remember, Jesus came to the earth as a servant.  He suffered without opening His mouth in complaint.  We are His servants, and will be treated as servants by others at times.  What will our attitude be when that happens?

May the living, victorious Lord Jesus Christ live His life out through us in these days, and may that cause us to reflect His character to others.