This is a picture in Hawaii from Christine Caine's facebook page. The sharpness and boldness of blazing beauty in this picture makes a person feel like they are actually there. However, we are not. We are just gazing at a picture, missing the whole experience from our others senses......the light brush of the breeze, the smell of the ocean air, and hearing the waves crash back and forth against the shore. We don't get to soak up the fullness of this moment that this picture tries to capture.
The same is true for dark times in our lives. You lose a parent, a spouse, a child, or you marriage ends in divorce no matter how hard you fight to save it. Instead of getting well, the one you are caring for dies. Or that friend you thought was trustworthy betrays you. Or you lose your job when you are the only one working. Or you stand up for what's right, only to be punished for it. We don't experience true brokeness unless we go through something heartbreaking. When you are a person who believes in Jesus and things don't go well, what does victory in Jesus look like? Here's another question....do you believe there is victory in Jesus even when everything falls apart?
Galatians 5:22-25, states "when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.....Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there. If we are now living by the Holy Spirit's power, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." This is what victory in Jesus looks like in every circumstance. If you are a follower of Jesus, if you are striving to be led by him, if you trust him no matter what happens, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will show up. Your desire will be to walk in love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control. When we are suffering, hurting, grieving, or in some sort of mental and emotional anguish, our natural inclination can be to find comfort in old sins, old relationships, old ways.....in something familiar. However, we must resist the old ways, the familiar ways, and lay hold of the new thing that God wants to do in us. If we want to be led by the Holy Spirit, we must follow Him in every area so that His power can be displayed in every situation.
Victory in Jesus is being controlled by the Holy Spirit and looks like this.....
Forgiving your spouse when they say hurtful things in times of pain and stress.
Speaking of all of the good things about your spouse instead of the negative.
Being faithful and ethical to your employer after you've been passed over for a promotion.
Choosing to love someone and not talk about their faults or how they hurt you to other people.
Waiting, continuing to believe, and practicing patience when you see other people getting what you've prayed for, and choosing to be genuinely happy for them.
Proclaiming your faith in Jesus and belief in His healing power after your loved on dies of cancer.
Choosing to be in control of your thoughts and emotions.
Forgiving your spouse when they say hurtful things in times of pain and stress.
Speaking of all of the good things about your spouse instead of the negative.
Being faithful and ethical to your employer after you've been passed over for a promotion.
Choosing to love someone and not talk about their faults or how they hurt you to other people.
Waiting, continuing to believe, and practicing patience when you see other people getting what you've prayed for, and choosing to be genuinely happy for them.
Proclaiming your faith in Jesus and belief in His healing power after your loved on dies of cancer.
Choosing to be in control of your thoughts and emotions.
Many Christians want the fruits of the spirit, but they don't want to experience the pain, suffering, and discipline it takes to have God's love be worked out perfectly in them so that they will be working in the fruits of the spirit in their fullness. We all want the victory and the power, but not the sacrifice of loving without our own selfish attachments. We want to love people at a distance, enough to satisfy a superficial need without risking anything. But this is not perfect love, and this will get you nowhere to experiencing the fullness of the fruits of the spirit.