7 Things in 7 Years: Happiness Vs. Holiness

Since being at Harvest, I have went through my fair share of hardship and challenges.

Like everyone else, I have met my strife with resentment and sought to banish it by any means possible. Adversity gets in the way of my agenda and quite frankly is an irritating blight on the rosy life I envision for myself. I would find myself running to God like a little clipe; petitioning for my obstacle to be removed so I could continue on my course. But the teaching at Harvest and the counsel from the people there have taught me something that have turned my perspective on its head: God cares more about my holiness than my happiness. No, really...

Somebody stop the bus. Now.

This has been a difficult and humbling thing for me to get my head around. The God of the universe cares more about me being formed into the image of Christ than indulging in the temporal earthly comforts of this life which count for nothing in the grand scheme of eternity?! Yeah, pretty much.

I feel I probably need to back up a bit though. I am not saying that to be a Christian you have to be miserable. Nor am I saying God doesn't want me to be happy or bless me with joy- because he gives me tons of it. What I am saying though is that God wants to sanctify me even if it hurts for a time. This is because He sees the end from the beginning. This is because He sees the eternal value. This is because He knows it will actually in turn produce in me a deeper, everlasting joy and trust in Him that moth and rust can not destroy. This life and the comforts found within it are a vapour after all.

So, Instead of my brothers and sisters asking me what they can do to help me flee from my challenges, they ask me what God could be teaching me through this season. They encourage me to endure and wait expectantly for the treasure I will no doubt find. They show me that witnessing God's power in my weakness is far more valuable than anything. Anything.

Of course, I can still cry out to God; plead with Him; lean on Him. But I now do it knowing that God's refusal to provide an immediate removal of my trials does not mean he's forgotten me, but rather He wants to reveal more of Himself to me first. And I'm up for that. The past few years have been hard, but oh, the blessing I have found in delving into the depths to discover my God is strong enough to pull me from the mire. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus.