As I continue on my journey of reading the Bible in one year, I finished the book of Mark today. The ending of Mark is wrapped in a bit of controversy. Seems some scribes were a bit uncomfortable with the abrupt ending the original manuscript seemed to have, and so they created more "complete" endings. Some endings are a bit shorter than others, and one of the longer endings became the more "accepted" ending, but the whole controversy got me thinking.
There have been times in the past when I've been uncomfortable with the place I'm in in life. I don't like the awkwardness, so I create an "ending" in my mind. I try to find an excuse for God to let me out of the situation, because "surely God wouldn't want me going through this." Yet, James 1:2-4 tells me that I should have joy when I face trials (I think awkward situations count as trials!) because that trial will produce perseverance in me, and when perseverance has it's full affect on me, I will become perfect (i.e. like Christ).
So maybe the difficult moments aren't to be escaped or brought to a false ending, but rather they should be embraced. Perhaps it is in the middle of the uncomfortableness that we find God doing exactly what He wants, operating exactly as He has planned all along.
Are you contemplating an ending to a situation, a relationship, a job, a church, or even your life? Before you quit, before you force an end, before you terminate the awkwardness, consider and pray about what God is doing. Persevere (please!). I would love nothing more than for you to move a little closer to perfection, that is Christ.
Oh, and please don't try to add an artificial end to this post...
(For more on the ending of Mark, see the NET Bible's great note explaining the controversy about the "real" ending of Mark 16.)
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