In the recent years I have been obsessed with the account in the bible where Jesus went from 5,000 disciples to 12....He asks the question "Will you go away as well" speaking to the twelve. Peter says something that has always gave me goose bumps. He says "Where else are we to go Lord, you have the words of eternal life. We have believed and come to know that you are the holy one of God".
As disciples of Christ (note I said disciples not christians) I think it is imporant to ask ourselves some hard questions...Being a disciple of Christ is not easy and if someone ever told you that they have no idea what they are talking about, and probably arent one. You worship someone who was beaten, persecuted, ridiculed, and murdered. If you don't want to experience suffering then don't sign up to be a disciple of Jesus! To many times in our society people (especially christians) when something bad happens we ask the questions "Where was God?"..."God why didn't you stop it?" or "God why did you let this happen?". I used to be one of those people...I would blame God when something went wrong. But, about 8 months ago I had to ask myself some hard questions. "Why do I really follow God?" "If God never answered another prayer would I still follow him?" "If God never gave me the desires of my heart would I still worship and follow him?"....these questions rocked my world because it made me face the reality of why I choose to be a follower of Christ. Did I really expect to never go through hard times? Have bad things happen?
I've been a christian since I was 7, but it wasnt until 4 yrs ago in November that I encountered God in a way that would change my life forever. When I look back the past 4 yrs and see what God brought me out of and see how God saved me from myself and my situations
I am so unbelievably humbled!!! All I can do is fall at the feet of Jesus and Thank him for his imaginable Grace on a sinner like me. And I asked myself "Heidi if God never answered another prayer would you leave?" and I remember falling to my knees crying and having the same words as Peter, I can imagine now how he felt...I remember telling God "Where am I gonna go???....Look what you brought me out of!!!! It was in that moment I knew that I truly loved God!!! I will never be able to thank him enough for how he has saved me (mostly from myself)...that God would lower himself not only just to save me from Hell (A physical place) but he loves me enough to save me from my personal Hells inside!!!!!
I think we have stopped asking ourselves these hard questions....as American's we avoid any type of grief, hurt, or sorrows. We cringe at any form of discomfort. As disciples of Christ I think it is pertinant to ask ourselves these questions...being a disciple is not something to be taken lightly!!! We have choosen to follow someone who lived a life of suffering.
As Pastor Mark Driscoll says "You worship someone who was murdered lean over the plate and take one for the team"
I think in order to be able to say "God where else can I go" you need to have a healthy view of your depth of your sin and what God has brought you out of....I think we would be less likely to question God and complain about suffering. Let me just state that I preaching to myself here!!! There are still many times that I complain about stupid things and I question God and I have to remind myself who it is I worship!!!!
