If you’ve been on the internet even a handful of times in the past couples of days, you are most likely aware of the great debate. The ultimate question… Can 100 average-sized and unarmed men, take down ONE fully-grown silverback gorilla who is the troop leader? Artificial intelligence doesn’t seem to think so. I want to disagree with artificial intelligence and assume that men could overpower the gorilla with shear volume, but I would be skimming over some important and realistic factors. A 500 pound fully grown gorilla with 10-20x the strength of an average human, sharp canine teeth capable of inflicting lethal injury, skeletal and epidermal durability and density make a gorilla a formidable force. I’d like to think that we could strategize, use our endurance, and overwhelm the gorilla with numbers, but let’s be real for a minute… You’re not going to find 100 people that will be dumb enough to run at a gorilla unarmed. For man to be successful, there would be some casualties! Our human survival instinct, our will to live, our God-given rational thinking would most likely prevent us from ever attempting this feat.
Silly gorilla debate aside, most people want to live and don’t willingly run into the face of danger. We do whatever it takes to extend our lives. Doctor visits, vitamins, treatments, healthy living, regular exercise, wear our seatbelts, and the list goes on… Which lends itself to the reason why we, as readers of God’s Word, could be so startled the first time we stumble across Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi. The way that he views and speaks of his own mortality in light of the Gospel and eternity, is rattling! It flips the persons will and want to live forever, upside down. Paul takes life and death, what has always seemed so black and white, and blurs the lines. Certainly, his circumstances of persecution and struggle had brought him to this point, but more than that, his heart of joyful content. The hope of heaven, assurance of salvation, promise of eternal life, the forgiveness of sin, and the reality of the resurrection, all rang true in the heart of this Christ follower. It was well with his soul. Whatever remained in his life, remained for the cause of Christ. Was there anything better that Paul could have witnessed than people coming to salvation and the knowledge of Christ? One thing… seeing and worshipping God in eternity.
At first glance it seems so unusual for Paul to desire his death more than his life, but then he clarifies it for us…If you are a Christian, that can be the case 100% of the time because we look forward to being with God in eternity where there is no weeping, mourning, pain, hardships, setbacks, guilt, shame, or sin. However, to not see the necessity to remain in this life to share the saving love of Christ with a broken and dying world, would not only be selfish, but joyless. Joy is not a feeling or characteristic that can be attained when we are simply removed from difficulty and given what we desire most, but joy is made full when we are content to walk through it for the glory of God and the good of another. Joy is not a feeling or mindset that we can switch on and off, rather, it is a posture of the heart that remains because of our hope in Christ and what he has done for us. The world doesn’t give us our joy, and the world can’t take our joy from us. The beauty of the joy we have in Christ, is that it can be most amplified in times of sadness, grief, or pain. It can hurt when we lose someone, but to know they are secure in Christ if they knew Him, is where joy can thrive. In tears, sadness, and deep loss – joy in Jesus sustains our weary souls.
Silly gorilla debate aside, most people want to live and don’t willingly run into the face of danger. We do whatever it takes to extend our lives. Doctor visits, vitamins, treatments, healthy living, regular exercise, wear our seatbelts, and the list goes on… Which lends itself to the reason why we, as readers of God’s Word, could be so startled the first time we stumble across Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi. The way that he views and speaks of his own mortality in light of the Gospel and eternity, is rattling! It flips the persons will and want to live forever, upside down. Paul takes life and death, what has always seemed so black and white, and blurs the lines. Certainly, his circumstances of persecution and struggle had brought him to this point, but more than that, his heart of joyful content. The hope of heaven, assurance of salvation, promise of eternal life, the forgiveness of sin, and the reality of the resurrection, all rang true in the heart of this Christ follower. It was well with his soul. Whatever remained in his life, remained for the cause of Christ. Was there anything better that Paul could have witnessed than people coming to salvation and the knowledge of Christ? One thing… seeing and worshipping God in eternity.
At first glance it seems so unusual for Paul to desire his death more than his life, but then he clarifies it for us…If you are a Christian, that can be the case 100% of the time because we look forward to being with God in eternity where there is no weeping, mourning, pain, hardships, setbacks, guilt, shame, or sin. However, to not see the necessity to remain in this life to share the saving love of Christ with a broken and dying world, would not only be selfish, but joyless. Joy is not a feeling or characteristic that can be attained when we are simply removed from difficulty and given what we desire most, but joy is made full when we are content to walk through it for the glory of God and the good of another. Joy is not a feeling or mindset that we can switch on and off, rather, it is a posture of the heart that remains because of our hope in Christ and what he has done for us. The world doesn’t give us our joy, and the world can’t take our joy from us. The beauty of the joy we have in Christ, is that it can be most amplified in times of sadness, grief, or pain. It can hurt when we lose someone, but to know they are secure in Christ if they knew Him, is where joy can thrive. In tears, sadness, and deep loss – joy in Jesus sustains our weary souls.