No trial,
adversity or temptation has happened to you but that which is common for
mankind in general. Somewhere, sometime
others have gone through similar, same or even worse adversities, so don’t be
surprised (1Pt. 4:12) for “…the same
kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the
world.” (1Pt. 5:9 ESV)
Typically, in
my serious trials I would follow a pattern like this: just believe by faith (several months), name it claim it (never
worked for me but I kept trying), pray dutifully ‘in faith believing’ (a few
weeks), begging (a couple weeks), then grief, despair, and finally anger
towards God for not doing what I knew He was able to do- for me. What I didn’t understand is the sovereignty
of God and that sometimes, for His own reasons, He chooses not to intervene the
way we desire.
God is on the
throne and does as He pleases (Ps. 115:3), He reigns over all and the power is
His (1Ch. 11,12). “…for I am God, and no other is
God, even none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from the past
things which were not done, saying, My purpose shall stand, and I will do all
My pleasure;” (Is. 46:9,10) Does this
mean it is His pleasure to cause us pain?
No, God is a loving God of mercy and grace.
Certainly God
disciplines us for we are His sons and He loves us (Hb. 12:6), but the troubles
in this life are mostly due to sin in general.
The world is under the curse of sin, death and the devil (Gn. 3) and has
been for thousands of years.
Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all
sinned: Rm. 5:12
that the creation itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And
we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
Rm. 8:21,22
So how do we
survive all these hardships, trials and being pressed beyond what we feel we
are able? The answer is found at the end
of 1Cr. 10:13- but with the
temptation (also trial, proving (test), adversity, affliction, trouble- Thayer),
God who is faithful “will make a way to escape, so that you may be able to bear
it.”
We cannot
bear it, were not meant to bear it alone, but with His help. Notice the end says ‘that you may be able to
bear it’, not that He would make it go away, fix it how we want, or answer our
prayers the way we wish, but that we would be able to bear it because He is
with us in it (Ps. 23:4), supports us (Ac. 20:32), and brings us through them
(Is. 43:2), even when it takes years…
He gives us
rest to our souls. Mt. 11:28-30
He comforts us
2Cr. 1:3,4 and cares for us 1Pt. 5:7.
No trial,
temptations, afflictions can separate us from God’s love. Rm. 8:38,39
Do not be
troubled or fearful, He gives us peace. Jh. 14:27; 16:33
He knows how to
deliver the godly. 2Pt. 2:9
He gives power
to the weak, increases / renews strength, vigor, stamina. Is. 40:29-31
The Lord
knows us better than anyone else, He goes before us to lead and guide, behind
us to watch our backs, His hand is on us (Ps. 139:2-5) and lifts us up (Ps.
30:1) when need be. We are not
alone! All those times I pushed the Lord
away when He wouldn’t do what I wanted caused me to suffer FAR MORE than I would have if I trusted Him to
control my life and change me. Peace,
rest, comfort in the arms of my Father would have been far better to the
torment I went through feeling all alone because I shut Him out.
God allowed
these things to remain in my life to change me “…knowing that the trying of
your faith works patience. But let patience have its perfect work, so that you
may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.” (Jm.
1:2-4) This means complete and perfectly
sound. (He’s still working on me…)
With God’s help we can become stronger
through the trials, and in the process, become closer to Him, trusting, and
leaning more on Him. Finally, I see Him
better for Who He is, not for Who I wanted Him to be or thought He was.
And He’s
amazing.
And each
day is better than the day before.
And
His love surpasses all my understanding.
And now I understand no matter what happens, I’ll be okay with Him
because ultimately He is good and wants good for me!!!
I don’t have to understand, I just have to trust Him
(Pr. 3:5).
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that
the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but
not driven to despair;
persecuted, but
not forsaken;
struck down, but
not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that
the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are
always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2Cr. 4:7-11
Thank You Lord for Your promise of the ‘restoration
of all things’ that awaits us! (Ac. 3:21)