Do we glean more understanding from suffering than not?  Can we actually gain through loss?  Should we desire suffering in order to know God more intimately?

Paul shares his insight into these questions with these comments ….

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ….
Philippians 3:7-10

As followers of Christ it’s so much easier to focus on the first part of verse 10, “…. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” …. and intentionally overlook or ignore the second part of that verse …. “…. and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ….”

Most of us are risk and pain averse.  I don’t wonder why …. because suffering sounds so …. awful and painful!!  Who would intentionally CHOOSE suffering in order to grow and know someone better?  What’s astounding is that Paul actually does …. he DESIRES “…. to know Christ …. and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ….”

As Irene has shared in the “fellowship of Christ’s suffering” with Amyloid she has come to know Him more intimately and EXPONENTIALLY.  In fact, the same is true for me, even though admittedly I have not endured anything close to the degree of Irene’s pain and distress.  I have, however, been pretty close to her along the journey!  What I can share from personal experience is that the words in The WORD literally JUMP OFF THE PAGE at new dimensions for both

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Break-through defined:

1. An act of overcoming or penetrating an obstacle or restriction.
2. A major achievement or success that permits further progress

I think that many people relish the freedom that comes from driving.  Personally, it’s a source of great delight and I rarely grow tired of being “behind the wheel”.  With that perspective in mind, Irene had a “break-through” day and drove for the first time since April!!

Here’s the quick account: Our pickup wouldn’t start this morning so we used jumper cables and I followed Irene to the dealership.  Later in the day, after taking a nap and sleeping off the nausea medication (which is a driving impairment), she drove me back to the dealership in her car and returned to the house while I was taking care of the payment.  She took the long way home (avoiding the freeway traffic); I took the freeway and actually got home first, just in time to see her broad smile as she drove up and parked in the garage.  Needless to say, it is a confidence builder and emotional breakthrough for Irene to drive again.  Was it a short drive? Yes.  Was it “long” on encouragement and pleasure? It was huge!

After coming home, Irene was quick to grab a garden rake and spend some time in the yard after the early morning rain.  Everything smells so fresh and clean!!  She then prepared a wonderful soup for us to enjoy on this cloudy evening!!!

The liberty that comes from driving will obviously enable Irene to feel more independent.  We are grateful for so many who are cheering her on.  Thank you for your loving concern and checking on Irene’s wellbeing.  We continue to hope and pray that her kidneys will “wake up” and the nausea will completely subside.

Now that Irene will be driving (at least occasionally) perhaps one of these days you’ll run into her at Safeway.  When you do, you’ll know with certainty that I am no longer ZIG ZAGGING the aisles ….

Caminando con Fé
Dave

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Have you ever “Googled” your name, telephone number or other personal information?  If not, you may be surprised at what you find because we live in the most TRANSPARENT GENERATION since the beginning of time.

But does it really matter?  I think so …. and my belief is reduced to this: that the TRUTH matters …. now more than ever before.  With cameras on cell phones and emerging on almost “every street corner” …. with GPS tracking systems following us everywhere we go, with the ability to verify information online, you and I can no longer “fly under the radar”.  What you and I do is or could become very public, observable and verifiable despite the provocative privacy laws.  And this information is available …. almost instantaneously.

However, this development shouldn’t be discouraging. Jesus admonishes us to live transparent lives.  His words, “the truth will set you free” couldn’t be more relevant.  Transparency and vulnerability should be at the core of who we are.  But frequently, for many of us, they’re not.  The world will tell us to “be strong”, to “have a stiff upper lip”, and so on, because being vulnerable and transparent shows weakness.  And too often we’re putting on a mask and pretending for that very reason.  However, scripture challenges that notion with this claim from Paul the Apostle: “when I am weak, then I am strong”.  From God’s perspective, when we’re vulnerable and transparent, we’re actually demonstrating true inner strength and confidence in Him.

Another related issue is that often our public persona doesn’t match the real you or me.  God’s goal for us would be to live a life of CONVERGENCE where our private behavior matches our public personality.  Put another way, our reputation, which is how people know us PUBLICLY, should be a mirror image and match that of our integrity, that which is what we do PRIVATELY.

So what does this topic have to do with Irene?  Simply this: she is one of the most transparent people I have ever known.  No pretense; no positioning; no personal agenda other than concern for others; what you see is

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