Comments on: and it’s time!

By: Laura Rebecca

Laura Rebecca — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:07:06 +0000

I read that other post, and I believe I agree with him, but I also think he would have done better to have titled it “Jesus Didn’t Come to Make You Comfortable,” because that’s really what he was saying (speaking against the horrific Joel Osteen health-and-wealth gospel, among other things). Part of my nitpickiness with words may also have to do with the fact of reading Desiring God right now, and Piper has no qualms with interchanging “happy” and “joyful,” for better or for worse. It is amazing how much difference a single word choice can make, though, when you think about it. Like the truth that the Christian life is not necessarily a comfortable thing, but it is (in the words of C.S. Lewis) “a thing of unspeakable comfort.” Minuscule difference as far as the language goes, but so important.

By: findingmyrealname

findingmyrealname — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:19:48 +0000

i love you, too, rach!

thanks for your comment. it was good to read after another day as a champion struggler:)

i just thought of something else…. it’s funny how israel was the name of the people of israel too. the people of God, aka the limping wrestling types.

By: fiercest

fiercest — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:02:22 +0000

hey hannah,

my friend elizabeth is the most optimistic, upbeat person i know, but she and i had the greatest conversation about jacob and wrestling, and i wanted to pass on her surprisingly unelizabethan comment (that yet was still so helpful!):

me: …and God honored jacob by giving him the name israel, which means “he wrestles with God,” no? so wrestling with God is something to be proud of–he expects us to struggle with him and he honors us for doing so.

liz: yeah, but jacob walked with a limp after that.

so remember the wrestling and build the ebenezers, but also remember this: it’s okay to feel hurt by what God’s doing. it’s okay to limp. and he does honor you for the wrestling and for the limping. promise.

love you.