Willingness

Beberapa tahun lalu, sementara sedang makan siang dengan teman-teman lama, kami mulai berbicara tentang betapa pentingnya bagi kita untuk bersedia menyangkal diri kita sendiri, menyerahkan segala sesuatu di kaki Tuhan dan mengikuti-Nya. Salah seorang teman saya berkata, “Nancy, saya tidak sependapat dengan kamu. Saya kira beberapa orang tidak memiliki kekuatan dan kesanggupan untuk menyerahkan segala sesuatu dan melakukan dengan cara Tuhan.” Kemudian ia memberikan berbagai alasan mengapa dia begitu yakin bahwa mereka tidak akan dapat melakukan hal ini: keluarga yang berantakan, saling ketergantungan, pernikahan yang malang, pelecehan fisik, masalah emosi dan pengaruh lingkungan.

Saya berpikir sejenak dan kemudian menjawab, “Suzy, kalau orang-orang ini orang Kristen, maka Allah ada di dalam mereka. Betul?”

“Betul,” katanya.

“Nah, kalau begitu, Allah adalah Pribadi yang akan membuat mereka sanggup dan memberikan mereka kemampuan untuk menyangkal diri mereka sendiri. Saya pikir semua orang Kristen akan sanggup menyingkirkan ego mereka karena Allah ada di dalam mereka, namun tidak semua orang Kristen bersedia melakukannya. Itulah, menurut saya, akar masalahnya.”

Orang-orang yang Suzy bicarakan sebenarnya tidak sudi menyangkal diri mereka. Dalih mereka mulai dari “keluarga berantakan” sampai “suami saya tidak mau mencoba”. Namun, saya tidak percaya akan hal-hal itu sebagai alasan yang sesungguhnya, karena Allah memiliki kasih, hikmat dan kuasa yang mereka butuhkan; mereka cuma tidak bersedia menyisihkan diri mereka sehingga Allah dapat melakukan banyak hal melalui mereka. Oleh Nancy Missler, diterjemahkan oleh Hadi Kristadi untuk Pentas Kesaksian pada tanggal 20 Oktober 2009.

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The Result of Unwillingness
Several years ago, while having lunch with some dear old friends, we began to talk about how important it is for us to be willing to deny ourselves, lay everything down to Jesus and follow Him. One friend of mine said, “Nancy, I don’t agree with you. I think some people don’t have the ability or the capability to lay everything down and do it God’s way.” She then gave various reasons why she was convinced they couldn’t do this: dysfunctional families, co-dependency, poor marriages, physical abuse, emotional problems, and other environmental circumstances.

I thought for a moment and then replied, “Suzy, if these people are Christians, then God is in them. Right?”

“Right,” she said.

“Well, then, He is the One who will make them capable and give them the ability to deny themselves. I think all Christians are capable of laying themselves aside because God is in them, but not all Christians are willing to do so! That, to me, is the bottom line!”

The people Suzy was talking about simply weren’t willing to lay themselves aside. Their excuses ranged from “dysfunctional families,” to “my husband is not trying.” But, I don’t believe these things were the real problem, because God has all the Love, Wisdom and Power they need; they just weren’t willing to set themselves aside so that God could do these things through them.

Perhaps this example will help us to understand Matthew 24:12 a little more clearly. This Scripture says that in the end times “...because iniquity shall abound, the Agape of many will grow cold.” This is simply saying that in the end times, many Christians will not be willing to deny themselves, but rather want to hold on to their “justified” hurts, unforgiveness, etc. Therefore, the Agape Love of God in their hearts will grow cold. It will be covered over, blocked and unable to flow forth

Thus, the bottom line is that all Christians have God’s Love in them, but not all Christians are willing to set themselves aside to let it flow.

God promises us in Luke 18:30, as well as in many other Scriptures, that the more we are willing to deny ourselves, the more He will return a hundredfold, not only “in this present time” but “in the world to come” as well. I know this has been true in my own life. My first book Why Should I Be the First to Change? shares how God has restored a hundredfold my marriage, my family, my kids, etc. because I finally learned how to surrender myself to God.

I’m certainly not any more capable than anybody else, but one thing is for certain: I’m willing. And that seems to be all that’s necessary! The question is: Are you?

As Matthew 16:24 says, “If any man [is willing to] come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” By Nancy Missler.

Diposting oleh Hadi Kristadi untuk PENTAS KESAKSIAN
http://pentas-kesaksian.blogspot.com