{"id":832,"date":"2017-05-26T17:11:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T21:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/?p=832"},"modified":"2017-05-26T17:17:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T21:17:06","slug":"it-is-what-it-is-lesson-17-wrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/2017\/05\/26\/it-is-what-it-is-lesson-17-wrap\/","title":{"rendered":"It Is What It Is – Lesson 17 Wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt Is What It Is<\/strong>\u201d is an axiom to express acceptance of things that can\u2019t be changed.<\/p>\n

One take-away from our discussion this week is that it can\u2019t stop there. Whether our own suffering or that of those we love, we have to follow through with more, and often it\u2019s others that can help us get to that point.<\/p>\n

We reviewed the story of Lazarus and although Jesus knew the end of the story, and spoke plainly of it to his disciples, he took time to be \u2018present\u2019 with Mary and Martha as they experienced it. They didn\u2019t see how it would work out\u2026 until they did.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re the same. Your family and friends\u2026 they\u2019re the same. Especially with deep grief, it\u2019s okay to be honest with God and others about our pain, to feel the depths, even if we know logically God\u2019s promises and the hope that we have in Christ.<\/p>\n

Suffering is an inevitable part of this life\u2019s journey. Yet, God is the \u201cGod of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.\u201d (II Cor. 1:4 ESV)<\/p>\n

This is where action is required on our part. It begins with showing love and no expectation of any response in return. We can\u2019t need for them to \u2018be encouraged\u2019 by us\u2026 we just give\u2026 a listening ear, a meal, a helping hand, and prayer.<\/p>\n

In due time, it may be that our own life story can help bring them to the next step, or we might be able to connect them with someone else who can speak from experience. The cause of suffering itself may not change, but patient love can help them heal and see how to move forward.<\/p>\n

Our time together reminded me of the wisdom and comfort to be gained from the life experiences of others. I was tremendously strengthened by the stories and counsel that were shared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt Is What It Is\u201d is an axiom to express acceptance of things that can\u2019t be changed. One take-away from our discussion this week is that it can\u2019t stop there. Whether our own suffering or that of those we love, we have to follow through with more, and often it\u2019s others that can help us get to that point. We… Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[75,42,20],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lessons","category-wrapup","tag-grief","tag-jesus","tag-trust","xfolkentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}