Hi there,
So, just like El Nino and La Nina, there is a pattern of behaviour throughout the world. This pattern, at its peak is greatly shared happiness and at its trough is privately withheld sadness. This is our humanity. The same is true of our relationship with the Lord: sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad. But in faith we are less alone in our sadness, and in belief there is meaning for our happiness. This is what it is to be in the world, but not of the world. We share the happiness the world shares, but we value its meaning (unlike the world); we withdraw from the sadness the world pities itself in, but we offer consolation (often unlike the world). This is our experience, of the world - from day to day, time to time, hour to hour.
This is what Jesus was getting at when He said "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’ The world is in a constant state of flux! Sometimes they are complaining that we are not happy like they are, sometimes they are complaining that we are not sad like they are. Yet Paul tells us "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (letters, from memory). And indeed in Solomon we learn "better to go to the house of mourning, than the house of joy", if we are in fact intentional about our relationship to the world (in its happy and sad states).
The hope of course, is that we are able to pull away from the world, without causing a tear. The Devil has much less a grip on us, in this life, if we can attest to the spirit of the Lord, which He (the Lord) maintains constantly while He rules over the world. The Lord does not get happy beyond measure (in which is delusion), nor does the Lord get sad in too great a degree (in which is sorrow to death) - we know therefore, that if we trust Him, we also shall be delivered in like manner. But what do we do when our enemies are all about us? Pray! Pray happily! Pray sadly, but with joy in your heart! With every effort we make like this, our witness will grow. And if our witness grows, our going up or coming down, will be diminished.
In a sense this is building on the rock, as Jesus said. For if we cannot be moved emotionally, how will the wind and wave overcome us, how will the doubt and uncertainty persuade us to give up? This is what it is to keep His Word: sometimes we are out of touch with what God is saying (emotionally), but we abide in Him; sometimes we are reluctant to obey what God says (even emotionally), but we abide in Him. Whether we are happy or sad then, we learn to do God's will, to have happiness in reserve and comfort plentifully. This is the power of following Christ, in His rising up and His going out. He does not give us to have happiness beyond measure, nor sadness. So the world begins to look to us, for guidance beyond this topsy-turvy world.
I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
So, just like El Nino and La Nina, there is a pattern of behaviour throughout the world. This pattern, at its peak is greatly shared happiness and at its trough is privately withheld sadness. This is our humanity. The same is true of our relationship with the Lord: sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad. But in faith we are less alone in our sadness, and in belief there is meaning for our happiness. This is what it is to be in the world, but not of the world. We share the happiness the world shares, but we value its meaning (unlike the world); we withdraw from the sadness the world pities itself in, but we offer consolation (often unlike the world). This is our experience, of the world - from day to day, time to time, hour to hour.
This is what Jesus was getting at when He said "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’ The world is in a constant state of flux! Sometimes they are complaining that we are not happy like they are, sometimes they are complaining that we are not sad like they are. Yet Paul tells us "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (letters, from memory). And indeed in Solomon we learn "better to go to the house of mourning, than the house of joy", if we are in fact intentional about our relationship to the world (in its happy and sad states).
The hope of course, is that we are able to pull away from the world, without causing a tear. The Devil has much less a grip on us, in this life, if we can attest to the spirit of the Lord, which He (the Lord) maintains constantly while He rules over the world. The Lord does not get happy beyond measure (in which is delusion), nor does the Lord get sad in too great a degree (in which is sorrow to death) - we know therefore, that if we trust Him, we also shall be delivered in like manner. But what do we do when our enemies are all about us? Pray! Pray happily! Pray sadly, but with joy in your heart! With every effort we make like this, our witness will grow. And if our witness grows, our going up or coming down, will be diminished.
In a sense this is building on the rock, as Jesus said. For if we cannot be moved emotionally, how will the wind and wave overcome us, how will the doubt and uncertainty persuade us to give up? This is what it is to keep His Word: sometimes we are out of touch with what God is saying (emotionally), but we abide in Him; sometimes we are reluctant to obey what God says (even emotionally), but we abide in Him. Whether we are happy or sad then, we learn to do God's will, to have happiness in reserve and comfort plentifully. This is the power of following Christ, in His rising up and His going out. He does not give us to have happiness beyond measure, nor sadness. So the world begins to look to us, for guidance beyond this topsy-turvy world.
I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.