Page 18 - Sarah's Children

good and faithful daughter, enter into the joy of your Lord”, that she will walk
anywhere, and in any way, that He determines for her while on earth.

Not very many men or women have such a heavenly perspective. Most live their lives
never perceiving anything but the natural world around them. Therefore, they want
to receive joy, and happiness, and blessing now, and they seek to satisfy every human
desire while they live here on earth. Much of the church sees Yahweh as a type of
heavenly Santa Claus who exists to satisfy their every craving, to rescue them from
every difficulty, to remove every hardship, and to make their way pleasant and
enjoyable. Yet the invitation of Christ is “Come and suffer.”

I Peter 5:10
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called
you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you.

Reading this, you may think, “Is this really what I signed up for when I received
Yahshua as my Savior and Lord?” Indeed, it is! Paul expressed it in this way:

Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my
share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is
lacking in Christ's afflictions.

This does not mean that we have to walk around experiencing misery and heartache
every moment. It does not mean we will not know profound joy at times, or that we
will be robbed of peace in our lives. What is indicated is that a death must take place
within our beings if we are to enter into the true life of Christ. Peter gives us this
further insight.

I Peter 4:1-2
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also
with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has
ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer
for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Our suffering comes about as we choose the will of God over the lusts of our own
flesh. Certainly for a woman to willingly choose to submit herself to man requires a
dying to the flesh. The flesh does not want to submit to anyone, not even to God.
Many women have agonized over the will of God for them, and in the end they have
chosen another course that would not require their flesh to die. Yet there is no other
path that will lead to a release of the life of Christ within. The hard shell of the outer
person must be broken open in order for the life of Christ within to be revealed.