More Paradoxes

I am fascinated by the paradoxes of the life with Christ.

People who don't understand, say the bible is full of contradictions.

But paradoxes are not contradictions; they only appear so.

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Jesus was called the "Man of sorrows"

It was also said of Him that He was anointed with the oil of joy above all His fellows.

Seeming contradictions, but both true.

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He had the joy of knowing that the salvation of mankind was secured in the plan of His Father:

that nothing could stop it happening for God had spoken it.

He had the joy of being perfectly obedient to His Father and of being in full fellowship with Him.

But day after day, He had to witness what had become of His crowning creation:

man.

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The degradation of such a wonderful being:

the pain; the sickness of mind and body; the corruption of nature; the lostness and the hardness.

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And He had to watch most of them reject the free offer of rescue from that condition.

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Since we have no way to measure

the depth of His love for us,

we cannot fathom how much pain that must have caused Him.

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This set the scene for one of the mysteries

of the life of Christ-followers:

Have you noticed that in the worst times,

you can have this deep underlying core of security,

and even a type of joy?

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It doesn't mean we don't experience the emotions involved,

but

underneath the real sorrow or stress or loss,

this remains if we listen for it.

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I believe that is Him: causing us to know that He is there;

He is enough;

He will hold us and keep us

because we

belong to Him.

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Then again, have you noticed sometimes,

in the times of joy, fulfillment, beauty, success -

we can feel an ache deep inside -

almost to tears?

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I believe that is our sensing His heart for the human condition; that in the midst of our best times,

a consciousness of the

pain of so many people in the world wells up.

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We may not know what the deep sense

of seemingly irrational sorrow is about, but at times it can be overwhelming.

Its unbidden, unexpected and

doesn't make sense except against

the backdrop of what life was meant to be for His people.

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Maybe it is something of what

the bible means when it talks about

"the fellowship of His sufferings" and "entering into His joy."

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