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In Philippians we read, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And         being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and             became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2: 5-8 NIV).

This passage teaches me a few things today:

  1. In the middle of suffering, my attitude should be the same as Christ’s – humble & obedient.
  2. Christ did not cling to His rights as the Son. He laid those rights aside.

In his book, Torn, Jud Wilhite writes this:

He (Christ) was not forced to suffer. Rather, he put himself in a      position alongside us, identifying with us, to redeem us from our suffering. (page 45)

He goes on to quote Philip Yancy from his book, Disappointment With God:

The Bible never belittles human disappointment…., but it does add one key word: temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. Our disappointment is itself a sign, an aching, a hunger for something better. And faith is, in the end, a kind of homesickness – for a home we have never visited but have never stopped longing for.”

Temporary means that it last or exists or is effective for a period of time. It is not something permanent. It’s OK to be disappointed with life at times. But may we remember that the disappointment will pass. Perhaps life doesn’t look right now as the life you always envisioned for yourself. KNOW that God will use it.

So how do we get through these times of disappointment?

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light & momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is seen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 NIV).

Did you catch it? Our troubles achieve for us something that will far outweigh anything we can achieve in this life. We get through the temporary by focusing on that which eternal. Today may we adjust our focus. May our attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus – humble & obedient.

May we remember, it is…..

TEMPORARY