"The Seasons in the Life of a Christian" - Brokenness. Background and Introduction

First written on Thanksgiving day1998 by Jean-Louis and posted 01/2013 http://thelightseed.blogspot.com
(To read the following chapters, click on the right lateral bar on the numbered chapters under the title "The Seasons in the Life of a Christian" - Brokenness.)

I am posting this message in answer to a brother's question: "Jesus talked about 4 types of soil (heart conditions). If 3 of the 4 types are poor soil, how does one go about plowing?"

For a companion poem "The wounds of my friend Jesus", please click here:

http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2011/06/wounds-of-my-friend-jesus.html

LESSONS FROM THE THRESHING FLOOR

O my threshed people and my afflicted (son) of the

threshing floor!

What I have heard from the LORD of hosts,

The God of Israel,

I make known to you. (Isaiah 21:10 NASV)

The seasons in the Christian’s life

(Brokenness)

To read the following chapters, click on the right lateral bar on the numbered chapters under the title "The Seasons in the Life of the Christian - Brokenness")

My intention in choosing the subject of this message was to provide from the Scriptures some understanding into the meaning and purpose of suffering in the Christian life.

Since my adolescence, I have reflected on the origin, the meaning and purpose of suffering in my life and that of my fellow men.

Perhaps, each one of us has pondered the same thing in the midst of unexpected adverse circumstances. This search for answers is valid, but could lead to a horrible frustration reaching a deep state of desperation if we do not find an answer that makes sense. As our pastor told us in last week’s sermon the correct question must not be: “Lord, why do we suffer, but what for? I believe that if we can find the answer to the latter, we will be able to accept all circumstances in our lives with a new positive perspective, knowing that we can trust in our God who loves us, who has a plan for our life and who gives us everything we need to grow in Him. King David in Psalm 25: 4,5, asked the LORD:

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Further on, the same Psalm declares in verse 14: “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”

Through much study of the Word of God and through personal experience, I have found satisfactory answers to my quest and have concluded that suffering is a normal part of the Christian life and that it is essential for our growth. This theme is highly present and visible throughout the Bible both in Old and New Testament. This is what I would like to share with you today.

BACKGROUND

In the Bible one of the most important places is Mount Moriah. According to Genesis 22:1-2:

“God did prove (or test) Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of”.

On the same Mount Moriah stood the city of Jebus, the Jebusite stronghold renamed Jerusalem by King David who conquered it. It is the same site on which King David offered a sacrifice to avert a plague that God sent upon the Israelites because of David’s disobedience when he ordered his captains to take a military census. The Bible relates the event in 2 Samuel 24: 16-25: 

And David built there an altar unto Jehovah, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So Jehovah was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel”.

Years later, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1, 2:

“Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where Jehovah appeared unto David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan (or Araunah) the Jebusite.

2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign”.

Finally, we come to the supreme sacrifice which occurred in the very same place, in Jerusalem, where the unblemished lamb of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus-Christ offered himself to be crucified on the cross as atonement to wash away our sins, obtain forgiveness, salvation and eternal life for those who repent and believe in Him.

INTRODUCTION

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2).

“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention to what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him in the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one doesn’t go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.” (Isaiah 28:23-29).

To be continued.