I have been struggling lately and as usual, it took the Lord to show me the source of my struggle. Anger. I have been angry at my friends here for their stubborn hearts, at the way they blame God for their lack of faith. "It is hard for the Chinese people to believe in Jesus, because that means many of our ancestors are in hell now". I have heard this thought many, many times from my friends. They want to know why Jesus came to the "western" people and not to the Chinese people. In essence what they are saying is that because Jesus did not reveal Himself in the way they think He should have, they can't believe.
Stop blaming God for your hardened hearts! Repent and turn to Jesus! Stop rejecting this gracious gift He is offering!
Then there is my atheist friend that believes science holds the answer to everything and if we wait long enough all of the questions we have will be answered. Can science fill that big, gaping wound in your heart? No. And while you are waiting for your questions to be answered by science, you will find yourself separated from the true answer for eternity.
Stop looking for solutions within yourself! Repent and turn to Jesus! Stop rejecting this gracious gift He is offering!
Now to myself, does the fact that my friends (and myself) are stubborn, unrepentant sinners mean that Jesus loves them (and me) any less? Does it mean that they are less deserving of my prayers, love and tears?
"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" Luke 15:7
No, it does not.
Stop hardening my heart to these souls crying out in anguish! Repent and turn to Jesus! Stop rejecting the gracious gift he is offering!
Praise God that He is everything we are not. His love, mercy and patience knows no bounds. He hears the cry of anguished souls and gives himself.
Please pray for my friends here, that they may repent and turn to the source of all, our Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for me that I may repent and turn to the Lord to be cleansed and used as He would see fit. Lord draw us all closer to you for the sake of your Son, Jesus.
Amen.
posted by Cassie @ 12:42 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Cassie. My heart was aching reading this post. May God encourage you and strengthen you in His all-sustaining love. And to answer your question, I begin my journey back to Taiwan on Aug. 14th, I believe arriving in ChiaYi on Aug. 16th. Will I see you somehow?
Cassie,
I'm well back home. I had a very clear God leading back to Ocala, FL, where I'll teach 6th grade. I'm scared, scared, scared, and excited!
Ann
I was wondering when you were headed back this way. Yeah, I'm headed back on Saturday, the 12th. I'm taking a Summer class or I'd be here. Keep me updated.
Sounds like some tough, but good issues you are (were?) struggling with. Be very careful that you do not make your happiness and peacefulness dependent upon whether they come to the LORD or not. This is obvious, but sometimes very hard to do. I hear ya because I felt the exact same way you do, but I needed to remind myself that they have heard the good news and they are now responsible for themselves to receive the gracious gift that God is offering or not! Sounds a little cruel, but we have to be confident that God has a great plan (better than ours, in fact), and that he will accomplish his purpose through their hardened hearts.
This makes me wish I could be there with you guys. We really miss Macau. But I struggled with this issue of the ancestors as well. Seems like it really was a block for many of them. Remember that you are offering the truth, the truth that can set them free. Their belief in Jesus isn't something that creates a reality where now their ancestors are in hell, it is simply a response to the truth and conviction in their souls that they are sinners and need a saviors. Once we realize that we are sinners that need a savior and we are being offered the truth and not a lie, then we are convicted and can receive the Lord and these side issues and doubts become secondary.
And this is what it is. The ancestors aren't a primary concern, but they are a secondary concern that they are using to cover up a deeper question or a more profound fear. You find with people (and the Chinese especially) that while they may open up to you, rarely do they bare their true hearts. It is a position of vulnerability that is a great risk to take. If you search and continue to gain their confidence as I know you are doing, then perhaps these deeper questions about life will emerge, and these you can answer with truth. We can't speculate on 5000 years of ancestors because God is 100% just and 100% merciful, so we don't know if they had a chance to believe in Jesus or not.
For your information, Nestorian missionaries journeyed to China and planted some churches in the 600's. Missionaries have been coming off and on since then. Every time the Chinese have been successful in nearly wiping the church out (so the Chinese have been rejecting Jesus for 1500 years!). This last time when Mao Tse Tung tried to do it, it backfired on him! Instead of wiping it out as he thought, the church multiplied at a rate not seen since the 1st cent AD. Something VERY significant is going on in China. The Holy Spirit is really with the Chinese. You could remind them of this. Well, if you've read this far, God bless you. I hope some of it helped. I'm available for wrestling with and trying to answer any questions you get. The students are free to email me directly (I think Dereck is STILL thinking about some of the questions I asked him!). Take care.
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