Momentary Afflictions

For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 2 Corinthians 4:17 This perspective can be hard to swallow. Even harder to explain to a child. Last night I shared with Katie and Lexie the story of Abraham and Isaac. Lexie stopped me twice to ask, so he was going to die? So he was going to be burnt up? Katie could answer yep and get on to the rest of the story. I wonder if she has the faith of the child or if she was simply caught up in hearing the end of the Bible truth. Either way, Katie was moving forward and ready to hear how God stepped in and saved them. Lexie, though, she was bothered – as am I still- that this father would play chance with his son's life . Bothered that God would ask it. Now in my adult brain I have reasoned and figured that God was teaching people his love. The request by God of Abraham always had an out, it was never a last minute salvation. For He created time and knows all things, so he knew the last breath would be years in coming. What he needed was for Abraham to walk step by step, no matter how dangerous or how heartbreaking the steps would be. Abraham believed and showed his belief with actions, with obedience. In the end, he learned that God would never forsake him and so faith is not explained but established. This lesson was so hard for Lexie, though. I watched her little brain work and I saw her unable to get to the end of the lesson because she was caught up in fear. In this moment I learned several things. 1. I am not the best Bible storyteller. I became immediately thankful for Pastor Michael and for crazy Aaron who works with the youth. My answers to her questions were muddy and I left her wrestling with God's goodness instead of awed by his grace. 2. Fear is a hang up in my life too. It was fear that kept Lexie from seeing the end. She missed out on the beauty of the story and the sacrificial allusion to Christ because she was so worried about the fire and the knife that Abraham was toting. I need to trust more and go step by step obediently, even if it looks dangerous or uncomfortable. And 3. Jumping to the end means missing the lesson just as much as stopping half way. Katie, maybe not scarred with the vision of a father burning a son, missed out on something too. She didn't recognize the weight of the glory because she shrugged off the affliction. In true twin fashion, my girls pulled from different ends of the story. The appropriate balance is hard to find in life. Maybe the tug in one direction, though, is the lesson that God is working on in me at the time. I often get hung up on the idea that I am too much this and not enough that – but perhaps God is teaching me in those times. He is weighing down and isolating the spiritual muscle that needs growth. This is freeing for me to consider. Part of being obedient is to follow God's daily workout plan and to accept the strain is to be gifted with the result. This morning I thank God for momentary afflictions. I thank Him for the workouts so I can be part of His glory.