Better To Have A Burden
by Scott Hubbard
This month I was really encouraged by an article from desiringgod.org and wanted to share it. I've included a couple of my favorite snippets below:
"As Charles Spurgeon once preached, “It is a good thing to be without a trouble; but it is a better thing to have a trouble, and know how to get grace enough to bear it.”
"Without grace, burdens break us. With grace, they bend us toward God."
"God, then, is willing to give burdens to his people — even burdens that slow our pace, trouble our peace, and seem to hinder our fruitfulness. We might conclude that God cares less about fruitfulness than we do; in fact, however, he cares far more. His idea of fruitfulness just goes deeper than ours."
"Too often, I fear, my own idea of fruitfulness is merely a baptized version of productivity. I can act as if effectiveness in the kingdom of God looks and feels like effectiveness in the kingdom of man: predictable plans, smooth execution, unhindered success. And such effectiveness, of course, has little room for limps, arrows, and thorns. But in fact, productivity forms only one part of true fruitfulness — and not the most important part."
"Some of the best parents walk with a limp. Some of the best leaders preach and serve from a besieged soul. Some of the best workers labor with a thorn. And some of the best Christians carry trouble with them wherever they go. What we so desperately need, and what others so desperately need from us, is not a life free from trouble, but a love for Jesus that lives and thrives in the midst of it."
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