Even the Good

October 5, 2024

Yesterday I said I would tell you a story about suffering and giving up even good things for Jesus. Here is the text:

“I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.” —Philippians 3:8

Mary Cantrall was my junior high Sunday School teacher. One Sunday, she sat down and told us to be careful what we pray for. She said that one day as she was praying, she told the Lord that if there was anything at all standing between her and Jesus, would he please take it away because in her love for Jesus, she didn’t want anything to come between them.

Shortly after praying that prayer, her husband died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. Mrs. Cantrall looked each of us in the eye and said, “I loved my husband very much; so much that I believe I loved him more than I loved Jesus. Don’t pray for something unless you’re very sure you’re ready to have God answer that prayer.” You might argue that her understanding of life and of the Lord was mistaken; that God doesn’t work like that, but how do you know for sure? 

Right or wrong, Mrs. Cantrall understood what Paul was saying in these verses. When we love a good thing more than we love Jesus, it becomes a bad thing. It can be hard to turn away from a habitual sin; it’s even harder to turn away from something good. But if it means more to us than Jesus, we must be willing to endure the soul-suffering of letting it go.