When Life is on Hold

When life feels like it is on hold, we are most apt to feel discouraged.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes in The Gulag Archipelago the benefits of his prison experience:

…In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, not between classes, not between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts…So, bless you, prison, for having been in my life.

When the Biblical Joseph wound up in prison both times, he found his way out and up because he committed his life to the sovereignty of God. It wasn’t fair of his brothers to sell him into slavery, nor was it fair that Potiphar’s wife unfairly accused him of sexual assault, but he trusted God to deliver him. He was in prison, and his life was on hold. When the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome, he modeled this attitude: “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,  for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (Philippians 1:15-19)

It is hard to remain faithful when life seems to be on hold, especially if we put our confidence in man, because human beings will fail us. But we remember that God is with us. As Jeremiah told us in one of his worst moments: “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:19:24).  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

We must learn to trust God’s timing, and if we do, God will bless us in the moment of our prison, when life is on hold. We feel we are limited, but God is not. Our best moments can come from those times when life is on hold, and it seems that nothing is happening. Only trust God, and he will deliver you!

 

Author of Crianza Responsiva:

https://www.amazon.com/Crianza-Responsiva-Principios-conectados-saludables-ebook/dp/B08FW8Q7D5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crianza+responsiva&qid=1610663595&sr=8-1 

This is How You Stand Firm

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he shares one thing he does: he forgets everything behind and focuses on what is ahead. That is good advice for all of us because the past often hinders us from going forward. Paul would say to you today: “Forget the past and let Jesus help you move forward!”

Paul encourages these young believers to place all their confidence in Christ rather than in their own strength. The Apostle did that once, believing he was faultless in his obedience to the law, and then he met Jesus. Here is his testimony:

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11).

For Paul is Jesus; focusing on Jesus is his goal, and Christ is the prize Philippians 3:13-17). The Apostle encourages the believers in Philippi to follow his example and that of other mature Christians. Paul makes it clear that he does not consider himself a perfect example, but rather one who is truly committed to Christ.

At the same time, Paul warns these believers that there are enemies of Jesus living around us. They live for the moment because they only think about earthly things. We, however, are citizens of heaven and live in the anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ, who will one day come and transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:17-22).

Then Paul says, “that is how you should stand firm in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1). With all our confidence in Christ—forgetting what is behind; grateful we know him and excited about his coming- we stand firm. This is what we look forward to and wait for. This is what keeps us going. This is what we get up to and start another day. 

Author of Crianza Responsiva:

https://www.amazon.com/Crianza-Responsiva-Principios-conectados-saludables-ebook/dp/B08FW8Q7D5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=crianza+responsiva&qid=1610663595&sr=8-1