I Am Pro-Choice!

If you didn't read last week's blog, could you just zip back and do that now?  While I applied it to my struggle with the "p" word (procrastination), the message really is about being pro-choice. No, not concerning abortion, but concerning life, in general. Sometimes, we just have to make a choice regarding our attitude about life. We can give situations, people, or trials permission to defeat us, or we can choose to battle them and live life upside up: victorious, positive, and grateful. Choice is a powerful tool in our arsenal against the enemy of our souls. I am pro-choice.

This past week, I was struck by the following verse from Peter's mouth to our souls:

"And, after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his external glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5:10)."

Not all suffering (Gk word, pascho, meaning "to experience a sensation of sadness, sorrow, or deep passion towards something) ends in heaven, but all suffering ends in an "eternal glory." All suffering as Jesus' brother, James, tells us will end in its perfect result. Peter gives us the specifics of that perfect result. Look closely at the four purposes of our suffering (I just love word studies!):

Restore - to repair, to completely and thoroughly mend, to render sound, to heal, to equip us to do his good will (see Hebrews 13:21), to make into what ought to be...

Confirm - to set fast, to turn resolutely in a certain direction, to render constant one's mind.

Strengthen - to give bodily vigor, to make strong one's soul...

Establish - to lay a solid foundation, to settle, or make stable...

When we refuse to be pro-choice, we don't allow God to do his perfect work in us through our struggles. God can't do his blessed work of grace in us. Oh what a gift he wants to give... He waits for our submission; we balk. He leans in towards us; we push away. He opens his hand to pour out blessing; we shake our fists. He remains lovingly open; we want to box him into our way of doing things. His desire is for us to lose control; we fight to stay in control.

Pro-choice.  When I fight it, I will always live with regret of time wasted. Time that could have been spent being
Healed-in-heart
Settled-in-mind
Energized-in-body
Stabilized-in-faith

Yep, I want to be pro-choice!