"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
John 6:60
This is from a period in the New Testament where Christ said some things that not everyone understood or agreed with, and many people stopped following him. I think that this happens, probably even more so, today. We don't always like what God has to say, and although we're learning and growing and working to understand more and more, we really shouldn't expect to always like it. ... But we *do* need to trust that it is always right--that when there is a disconnect between what we want and what God wants, it is *always* God that knows what he is talking about.
This isn't to say that God doesn't want us to understand his plan and like it. :) He would love us to appreciate what he has done and agree with it, but he isn't going to force us to feel that way, and for it to be our free choice, we have to learn about his plan little by little, and grow to know God more and more in our lives. And so he gives us scriptures, and prophets, and the gospel, and the church, and especially prayer, so that we can talk to him personally.
Today, if we run up against something that we don't understand or agree with from God, let's not react too quickly and decide to give up on Christ and walk away. Let's refuse to give up on him, just as he would never give up on us. Let's trust that whatever it is actually makes sense, and dive in and study it, and ask God to help us understand his position. He *will* help us. We will always have free agency, and we can always choose to walk away... but Christ is the one with the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Leaving him will never help us learn the truth. Let us be the ones willing to hear his sayings, no matter how hard, for they are what will lead us to eternal life, and peace, and joy.
John 6:60
This is from a period in the New Testament where Christ said some things that not everyone understood or agreed with, and many people stopped following him. I think that this happens, probably even more so, today. We don't always like what God has to say, and although we're learning and growing and working to understand more and more, we really shouldn't expect to always like it. ... But we *do* need to trust that it is always right--that when there is a disconnect between what we want and what God wants, it is *always* God that knows what he is talking about.
This isn't to say that God doesn't want us to understand his plan and like it. :) He would love us to appreciate what he has done and agree with it, but he isn't going to force us to feel that way, and for it to be our free choice, we have to learn about his plan little by little, and grow to know God more and more in our lives. And so he gives us scriptures, and prophets, and the gospel, and the church, and especially prayer, so that we can talk to him personally.
Today, if we run up against something that we don't understand or agree with from God, let's not react too quickly and decide to give up on Christ and walk away. Let's refuse to give up on him, just as he would never give up on us. Let's trust that whatever it is actually makes sense, and dive in and study it, and ask God to help us understand his position. He *will* help us. We will always have free agency, and we can always choose to walk away... but Christ is the one with the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Leaving him will never help us learn the truth. Let us be the ones willing to hear his sayings, no matter how hard, for they are what will lead us to eternal life, and peace, and joy.
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