“Yet man is born to
trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7
Salvation does not
exempt us from the everyday problems of life. Those who are fully
committed to the Lord often find themselves entangled in on-going
difficulties. Finally, a release comes, only to find that another
pressure has taken the place of the one that was resolved.
There is a reason
for these difficulties. Therefore, we should view them as servants,
placed in our circumstances to accomplish a higher purpose.
“Therefore I am well
content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
II Corinthians 12:10 NASB
Only as we rise
above or overcome these seemingly unending pressures and difficulties, and
refuse to allow them to hinder us, will we be able to successfully “press
toward the mark” for the prize that our Lord has made available for us - our
becoming His Bride.
“Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus… I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
“Let us rejoice and
be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and
His bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe
herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:7-8 NASB
We may ask, “How can
we make ourselves ready?” This is accomplished as we respond
appropriately to the circumstances of life that we face daily, along with the
testing's and disciplines that require obedience, and recognize these as the
means to prepare us.
As we “press toward
the mark for the prize,” we are “making ourselves ready” to become the Bride of
our Lord Jesus. Therefore, it is important that we respond in heart
obedience, looking to the Lord for the right way through these difficult times.
“Brethren, I count
not myself to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind (the ongoing pressures we face in our daily life
experience), and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
Those who have
submitted the totality of their being to the Lord and are seeking His highest,
are “potentially” His Bride (that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended). No one of us can say, “I am the Bride,” as the Bridegroom
chooses who will sit with Him on His throne, as His Bride.
Our part is to make
ourselves so desirable that we will be chosen in that day, having made
ourselves ready for the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7-8).
Just as a young
woman anticipates her wedding day and prepares herself, so also, the Bride of
our Lord Jesus Christ is to prepare for this day. She is to “clothe
herself” in fine linen, clean and white. This speaks of the “righteous
acts of the saints” in which she actively faces and overcomes the problems and
pressures of life.
It is the
“overcomer” who will sit with Jesus in His Throne, as His Bride.
“To him who
overcomes I will grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame,
and have sat down with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21
