2Corinthians1:5-7
Jesus said it most plainly: "In this world you will have trouble." (Jn16:33)
There is no guarantee that the life of the Christian will be easy. But in the midst of the brokenness of our sin and the brokenness of the world, God is working subversively to comfort and restore.
SUBVERSIVE: "a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within" (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Why do I say that God's work is subversive?
1. God is not the author of brokenness and suffering and so He doesn't need to be at work there. He could quite easily say: "You got yourself into that mess - you'll have to get yourself out." But He doesn't. Instead He gives hope to the hopeless, strength to the weary, faith to the forlorn, comfort to the distressed and healing to the broken.
2. Paul talks about the sufferings of Christ. Think about that for a moment... Did Jesus _have_ to come? Did we _invite_ Him? Would we even be able to _imagine_ that He would do what He did for us? The coming of Christ into the world and dying on the cross to overthrow the power that sin and death held over us is God dismantling brokenness.
By sending Jesus into our sin-sick world to save us, by pouring comfort into our distress and enabling me to comfort you with the comfort I received, God is subverting the world of heartache and pain that we live in.
We didn't invite Him and sometimes we push Him away, but He keeps working - this is subversive love.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
