UV 1707/10000 The Conception of Grace
And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
Genesis 30 v 23
Just as Rachel conceived a son after she had been barren for a fair length of time, we too go through barren times when little seems to be happening positively. We suffer pain, anguish and humiliation even as Rachel did for a barren woman was greatly scorned in those times even by kith and kin. But if we stick to the Lord for grace and resolution of our situation one way or other, He will take away the cause of our humiliation, our pain and suffering. People have demonstrated their ability to stick like a leech to sin, pleasure, money and such other things of this world but few have developed the ability to stick to the Lord like a leech.
God does not need a Plan B. He allows the times of testing of our faith when nothing positive is clearly visible to open our ability to see from the inner eye. Only if our faith is genuine and strong will we hold onto God even when for a long while, we do not have what we are longing for. Our faith for the Lord will give rise to personal knowledge of the Creator and Redeemer. Our knowledge will give rise to love. Our faith and love will further give rise to hope. We will see the rainbow even before the storm ends. We will not despair when things seem to be getting worse. We will remain patient and gracious under pressure. The Lord allows us to experience the full heat of the negatives in life so that we will better and more fully enjoy the positives He sends our way in due time. A person born rich does not understand the value of his riches till he runs out of it even as the prodigal son realized the greatness of his father and the comforts of his father’s house only after he lost it all. He realized he should not have left his father’s home and sought his share before time. He realized he had made the wrong choices. The realization of our mistakes in life is often what the Lord enables us to conceive in our minds and hearts to enable us to move from reproach and humiliation to joy and triumph.
God provides the seed and we need to grow it by His grace. The Lord will enable us to conceive ideas, visions and plans that would remove our reproach or cause of dishonour shame. It is our Gilgal moment – the place and time when the reproach of Israel as a slave nation was removed or rolled away. Indeed, the large boulder that was rolled away from the empty tomb of the resurrected Jesus who suffered the utmost dishonour, shame, pain and soulful agony is a metaphor for our sin, shame, sadness, pain, disease, dishonour and defeat being rolled away from each of our lives.
Prateep V Philip
Just as Rachel conceived a son after she had been barren for a fair length of time, we too go through barren times when little seems to be happening positively. We suffer pain, anguish and humiliation even as Rachel did for a barren woman was greatly scorned in those times even by kith and kin. But if we stick to the Lord for grace and resolution of our situation one way or other, He will take away the cause of our humiliation, our pain and suffering. People have demonstrated their ability to stick like a leech to sin, pleasure, money and such other things of this world but few have developed the ability to stick to the Lord like a leech. (Good words - Amen)
ReplyDeleteAnd being a prodigal son is realising and relearning to be happy with the God's chosen who accepts the Good and discerns not to accept the evil or bad for which the heart sought to come back to. Need not be a personality disorder when the time is taken to accept reality and truth and bear the outcome of bad and evil to reach the good and 'happy - peace" as is said. Facing life as a spiritually layman will say.
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