John Bevere once said spiritual maturity is a function of suffering (in accordance with Hebrews, which tells us that “[Yeshua] learned obedience by the things he suffered).”
I actually disagree. Spiritual maturity has something to do with suffering, but suffering alone that produces bitterness does not produce the fruit of maturity. Rather, taking the suffering and asking of it, or of the L-rd what the lesson is, hunting for that lesson, and learning the lesson the suffering was designed as a tool to teach you, is what produces maturity spiritually.
For the record, according to 1 Timothy 4:12, also, maturity as a believer has NOTHING to do with age. My older son and daughter outstrip some people twice their age. There is no shortage believers who have this stupid idea that people are only more mature and we should only hearken to their counsel past a certain biological age, but that has nothing to do with it.
The bottom line is this, you grow spiritually as a function of productive suffering; that is, you grow as a result of sucking the marrow out of the garbage through which you go.
Find the crimson thread of redemptive purpose.
Our job is to grow in our suffering. And that suffering may take many forms.
I love the clarity here David. I study from a first edition Amplified Bible and in Psalm 105, which tells the story of Joseph in prison, verse 18 contains an additional statement , saying; that he was laid in chains and that “his soul entered into the iron.” This is the only Bible translation where I’ve seen this idea written into the text. More recent Amplified Bible editions don’t even have it this way. You would think that it should state, that the iron entered into his soul, which would be a concede to the despair of circumstances, but in stating that “his soul entered into the iron”, it seems to indicate that he partnered with it as an act of will to do exactly what you said, which was the suck the marrow out of it. Thanks for posting this today, it’s going to dominate my musings.
Shoot me a pic of the copyright page for that Bible when you get a moment.
Will do.