Christ in You

I have just finished walking my son through a recipe for Machaca Beef.  He got it into the crock pot, and now we will wait for the next 10 hours to see how it turns out.  Already, in the first hour, it is smelling a bit like a South-of-the-Border Heaven in here!  When it's done, we'll shred it, pile it between warm corn tortillas and top it with their choice of homemade salsa - either the one with black beans or just the regular pico de gallo.  Next, they'll probably add a bit of cheese and some sour cream.  And the final bit of our Mexican feast will be fresh corn-on-the-cob....the beautiful white kernel corn.  I just can't wait for dinner! 

I am a true fan of a crock pot.  I enjoy the aromas that waft through the house all day, and I like the fact that at the end of the day, I don't have to figure out what's for supper!  It's already done for me.  Sometimes, I feel a bit like I'm in a crock pot myself.  There are seasons in our lives where we feel the heat of difficult circumstances for a much longer period of time than we feel is comfortable.  In those times, though, if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, I think that we can acquire much more flavor and tenderness than if we just worried and stressed over the moment. 

Romans 5:3-4 says, "We glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character produces hope." Perseverance is not easy.  If it were, more of us would be doing it....and then we would see more character in the world around us.  But character is lacking in the world.  Quitting seems to come so easy.  Divorce is the norm.  Job changes are expected.  It is so easy to move on to something new, rather than to stay with what is no longer fun and simple.  But it is interesting to see the progression...we can move from suffering to perseverance to character and then to hope. 

Colossians 1:27 says, "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  This verse gives a bit of insight into the hope that is available to us.  It defines this hope as the "glorious riches of the mystery".  The hope that we can acquire is "Christ in us."  Isn't that such a beautiful thought!  All along, I've wanted more of Jesus and less of me, but the how of that is always puzzling, isn't it?  I mean, we know to read the Bible and pray, but beyond that, we are often lost.  All along, we ask God to remove the difficulties from our paths so that we can walk more easily through our lives...when it would seem that His plan is one that produces perseverance...character...hope.  Christ in us. 

All day long, I will smell this amazing beef as it cooks!  And all day long, I will think about the hope that I have in Christ.  What a blessing--and to think that it all comes from the difficulties that we encounter.  What a glorious plan!