I cannot but barely comprehend how the God of the universe, the Creator, the Eternal, would even consider giving up everything and come in the form of a created being. Who can truly understand the form that Jesus had in heaven before He came to earth? But we know that now He is like us made of flesh and bearing the scars of His earthly mission of love.
After He rose from the grave and appeared to the disciples, “…He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing’” (John 20:27). How can we, the created, comprehend the magnitude of what Jesus has done for us not only in suffering but just coming down here in the first place.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).
Even in considering who Jesus is, the God of the universe, He is also Someone who loves us infinitely. And He understands us. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We will not encounter any temptation that Jesus has not already had to deal with. In a way, that brings some comfort to me to know that He already knows how to handle the situation. If only I could pause enough to listen to His advice on what to do and how to react. Sometimes doing nothing is actually the best action you can take.
I have had several people say to me something like, “Oh you followed your husband to the SDA Church” or “when you get married the man is supposed to change his religion to yours not the other way around.” And these statements were all spoken by people that I know, they are not strangers. They are nice people whom I care about.
Our society, at this time, seems to be on an “I’m offended” bandwagon. So, I was tempted to jump on my “I’m offended box” and say that while yes Ryan did bring to my attention the teachings of the Adventist church that I took a couple of years to study exactly why the church believes what it believes. I wanted to make sure that I was joining something I agreed with, something that made sense, something that was most importantly scripturally sound. I’m not the smartest person you’ll ever meet. I don’t have a doctoral degree or even master’s degree. Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with the apostle Paul in our Sabbath School study of Romans. However, the foundational truths of the Bible are not rocket science. Even a fisherman like Peter can understand the essentials.
So instead of trying to explain that I can make an informed decision on my own and that I do not take the matter of religion as something I can just accept because my husband does, I simply said nothing because the conversation made a turn. I have a hard time interrupting people, something my parents taught me was rude. The few times I have tried to interrupt people it generally doesn’t work because they just talk louder. I decided that I don’t need to prove to people that my faith is my own. Eventually, if they are around me enough, I hope and pray that they will SEE that is it. “…The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). If you are living your faith, then people will see that your actions and words reflect what you believe. While the devil may want me to stew in fumes of indignation, I decided that I don’t have to. If my actions are controlled by anyone I want that person to be Jesus, not the devil, not my husband, not even my fellow church members. Jesus knows and understands what we go through each day because He has gone through it too and even worse.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Perhaps another opportunity to share my faith will come up with the people who have questioned my motives. But until then I will pray for God to bring them and me ever closer to Him. And remember that if the devil can put words in the mouth of Peter then he can do so to the people around us and even us! Truly it was not those specific people questioning my motives, it was the devil working through them. Do not hold such things against people but remember who the real enemy is. And remember why you believe what you believe.