Ecc 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for
every activity under the heavens:
What's the rush? Make a decision today to learn to do things in
God's rhythm, not at the world's pace. Joyce Meyer
Ministries
(Luke 17:12-18 NIV) As he was going into a village, ten men who
had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in
a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw
them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they
went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was
healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw
himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other
nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except
this foreigner?"
One of the challenges in Christian life is contentment. The
Samaritan knew that he was not entitled to God's grace and
therefore when he received it through Jesus Christ, he came back
to show his gratitude.
It is difficult to have gratitude under the circumstances. A
survey by the Human Right Campaign in Washington showed that
gays are less likely to be happy (4 in 10 gay teens happy,
compared with 7 in 10 for straight teens) which is not
surprising since the survey also revealed that:-
twice as many gays as straight teens had been
shoved, kicked or otherwise assaulted at their schools,
gays believed that 50% of the community had
accepted them and they would need to be elsewhere for acceptance.
The data is for gay teens who actually have it better than those
who were there 20 years ago when life was much harsher and with
being gay not yet legalized.
We have a right to be gay and happy.
Thanksgiving and gratitude is shown when we understand that it
is all by grace, and that we deserved nothing and entitled to
nothing much. It is all by the Blood of the Lamb because of
faith in Christ Jesus.
The key to Christian living is contenment. Without being
contented, we would not be happy with God's blessings in what we
have. We don't have gratitude and grace because we think that we
deserved it.
When we are not contented, we would often envy the material and
financial wealth of others but fail to count our blessings.
We all need God's mercy and grace in our lives. We can receive
it when we are at peace with ourselves. We can't be happy if we
want to change what we cannot change - in who we are - our
sexual orientation, and even the hardships, pain, lost and
suffering that we have gone through as a result.
If we were to be truly happy, we have to be contented with who
God has created us, a gay person, and because we have Christ,
the Hope of Glory, He will give us a name, a future which is
beyond us if we had been straight when we put our faith and
trust in Jesus despite our predicaments.
The greatest challenge to happines and joy is the grave loss
that we felt as a a gay person. We have lost out on so much -
being abused, bullied and tortured whilst growing up at school
and now denied our basic rights of existence and relationships
for gays are still liable to be put in jail just for being gay
in many countries. Our future seemed lost for we are denied the
right to marry our love ones.
We can't be contented without giving God the glory and honor
despite of our loss in life. It is to give grace, to forgive
those who have harmed us greatly, that we receive grace to
survive and to overcome. In many cases, we just but survive and
contented and happy to do so.
There is no rush in this life to follow others or to feel
compelled to do this or that even for the kingdom of God. God
has a purpose for each of us even using our sexual orientation
to call us to serve Him for His honour and glory.
We are all the body of Christ not simply because we choose to
call ourselves Christians, but because our head is Jesus. We are
bounded in Christ when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour,
and believe in Christ that His death and resurrection is the
Way, the truth and the Life to God.
It is Jesus who gives us our commission to service. Being
contented, is to be happy wherever we are, knowing that as we
avail ourselves and listen to the Spirit of God, He will lead us
to pastures beside still waters when we will fulfill our
destiny. There is no rush to be someone we are not.
Being contented when one has so little and to smile when
challenges and burden is great, is to have faith in Christ's
resurrection power and works of grace in our lives. It is to
know that as we empty ourselves, the Holy Spirit is then able to
come in and abide with us. Contentment ultimately is the blessed
assurance of being in Christ, today, tommorow and for eternity.
We like the Samaritan, as outcasts, as Gay Christians, has a
choice and the choice is to give thanks to God for it is by
God's grace and blessings that we see God even in creating us as
a gays. For in being gay has meant a deep humility in loosing
our lives, that we might gain it with Christ for eternity come.
Be happy, be gay, be contented for God's grace abounds and His
Holy Spirit dwells within you to do God's mighty works and
ministry in a powerful annointing of love. The best is yet to
come when we are contented even when nothing comes for we know
God's plans for us is for good. There's no need to rush and be
in a hurry, for our eternity is in heaven and that is a long
time.