No, not a runway model, or anyone you would find flaunting their "beauty" on a magazine cover. I'm talking about a model of Christian faith. A model of courage, hope, and joy. Did I fool ya? I hope you'll keep reading anyway.
It's so easy to be a good model of Christianity when everything in our life is going right, isn't it? Picture this conversation between two friends:
Sally: "My husband got that promotion he's been waiting for, Praise the Lord!"
Sue: "That's wonderful news! Our prayers are being answered too, thank God. We got a report back from my mother's doctor. She is completely healed of cancer! Can you believe it? Our Lord is SO good!!"
Of course Sally would probably respond with squeals of delight, they would giggle, hug, maybe cry from the sheer joy of their good fortune. They would each go their separate ways, spreading the good news to friends and family far and wide and letting everyone know that God DOES perform miracles in this day and age.
And they should, because He most certainly DOES!
But, what if the conversation went a little differently?
What if Sally's husband had just been laid off and they weren't sure what they were going to do about food or the mortgage? What if, instead of being healed of cancer, Sue's mother had just been diagnosed with it, or with some other serious, incurable illness?
Would you expect the conversation to be filled with squeals and giggles and hugs then? Of course, there is nothing wrong with feeling sadness, or expressing our pain or grief. But if we saw things with our Spirit eyes, and not our flesh eyes, we would see that God's good plan for our lives (see Romans 8:28) does not always mean everything is going to go well. It is through the storms of life that we MUST really cling to Jesus! If we could only stay filled with "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:7) , others might see the light of Christ a little more clearly in us. They would look at us after the job loss, or during the illness, see us filled with peace and joy, and wonder to themselves 'how do they do that?' It gives us opportunity to witness, to express to others the deep love our Lord shows us when we open our hearts and allow His healing peace to fill us.
We can only be these models for Christ if we understand and believe that suffering and pain are not because of sin, or because we have fallen out of favor with God. He allows these things to occur in our lives, but He stands near, waiting to be our comfort and guide when we are filled with fear or despair.
We know this by reading Job 1:8-12, "Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright. A man who fears God and shuns evil.' " 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." 12 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Do you see the 3 things that are happening here?
1) God is pretty much saying Job is a good servant. One who is blameless and fears the Lord like no one else does.
2) Satan says well of course, that's because he is living the good life. He's kind of saying ' look, God, you give a guy a large family, prosperity, health and happiness and of course he's going to sing your praises! ' He is challenging God, claiming that if things weren't going so well, Job would curse him.
3) Satan tells God to stretch His hand out and cause destruction in Job's life, AS A TEST, to see if Job will curse God then. (Do you see that? Did you read it?) But God doesn't do it himself. And while He does give Satan permission to strike, He sets a restriction - Satan is not to "lay a finger on the man himself."
So what does that mean? GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL!!! Satan himself cannot do anything without first getting permission from the One who created and loves us with a love so deep we cannot comprehend it. Did God give Satan permission because of Job's sin? No, He said Job was blameless! Why does God give the permission? I think the answer to that can only be provided by God himself. I also think that His answer would be different for each person and each trial. However, I've come to believe that the why is not important.
What is important is how we face every trial He allows.
If we endure with faith, courage, hope, peace, and joy, then we become models for Him.
We should let 1 Thessalonians 1:4-7 be our encouragement. "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers . . ."
I want to become a model, how about you?
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