Trials, from Mom Part 1

I haven't delved into Mom's journal for a while and thought it was time to go back into it.  The next entry is trials which is a good follow up for my last entry on suffering.  God's timing!  

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Overcome.  Jesus tells us His grace is sufficient for us.  During trials we are to open our ears to hear from God.  Stand firm in our allegiance to Christ and continue to trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Remember previous victories.  Remember to thank God for what He has done, for what He is doing, and for what He will do in the future.  Seek Him, trust Him, wait for Him.  Pray for guidance.  

Psalm 40:1-8 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.   2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.  3 He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.  4 Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  5 Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.  6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened.  Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.  7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.  8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.”

From me:  This is a great Psalm to meditate on while suffering.  Through it we can focus our hearts on God and His goodness.  For example:  We wait on the Lord's timing.  He hears our prayers and is our deliverer.  He sets us on sturdy, solid ground.  There is purpose, even when we don't see.  How we go through trials is an example to others, to draw them to God....on and on we can bring our hearts to Him as we suffer and know that He will and does take us through and bring about His good purposes. Now, back to Mom.  

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 

We profit from trials.  Pray for the ability to endure.  Trials hurt but from God's point of view they help.  God has "designed" them to accomplish His purpose.  Know that our Lord wants to use it to test our faith and produce endurance and spiritual maturity.  Do I want to be transformed into the image of Christ?  YES!!

Then rejoice in the many benefits accompanying suffering.  Being like Jesus is worth it.  Let's not waste our suffering, but respond to it in a way that God will be able to produce eternal benefits in us and for us.  (And for others).  

From me.  It's so hard to remember these truths while we hurt, especially the deep, gut wrenching emotional hurts, living through disaster, or the mind numbing, day after day pain.  But even those worst of the worst things God takes and uses.  He has purpose for.  I've been through and come through some of those hurts.  And you, know I still don't know why God did some of the things He did in my life.  But I know that His heart is for me.  I think when we do go through these things, we need to take out these Scriptures and read, reread, and read again and again and again.  They will sustain us.  Trying to remember them on our own can get clouded out by the pain.  But physically looking at them will keep them front and center.  And knowing God's heart is always kind, always loving and always wise is something that will help carry us through.  I will do a second part next week on this....it's a deep subject and not something to be rushed through.  

Lord, help us.  Suffering is not something we like, not something we want in our lives.  It's so hard to so purpose, to see light when all around us and in us is pain.  But we know You.  Help us to trust and focus on YOU.  Lord, I do pray for those who are enduring untold hardship right now.  Lord, wrap Your arms around them and hold them tightly to You breast.  Strengthen them to face another day.  Help them to remember that our suffering will never be in vain, it's temporary not eternal and that You will be with them throughout it.  And You will redeem their suffering for something beautiful.  Thank You that You do that.  I don't know how, but I know You do.  We trust You Lord.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Print out or write out these Scriptures to have when times get hard.  

Object Lesson

Getting an object lesson from God can be a love/hate experience.  Learning, gaining wisdom and understanding, and drawing closer to God through the experience can be wonderful.  And these things usually manifest themselves when we get through to the other side of the experience.  But sometimes, maybe even a lot of times going through it....ugh, not fun.  

Last weeks chapter in our Bible Study Fellowship group was a mini-study on suffering.  We learned about the inevitability of suffering in this fallen world.  We also learned the purposes that can be behind suffering.  

I've always struggled with what seems like purposeless struggling and difficulties.  What's the purpose behind stubbing your toe, children getting cancer, failing at something you desire, getting a cold, frequent annoying typos.....I mean the Bible talks about suffering for Jesus' sake and how that is an honor and a privilege.  I get that.  I'm in awe of those who suffer for His Name's sake and come out singing and praising like Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25.  But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.  Not only did they suffer for the Name of their Lord and Savior, salvation for the jailer and his family came out of this.  I don't see anyone getting saved by me stubbing my to or breaking a dish.  LOL  

On Monday I was to have a colonoscopy/endoscopy and so beginning at midnight Saturday (technically Sunday) and all through until Monday morning I was prepping for this procedure.  Okay, that's unpleasant but not the end of the world.  No, the "wishing it were the end of the world" feeling came overnight into Monday morning.  The pharmacy had given me the wrong flavor prep liquid and it just wrecked my stomach and esophagus.  Between the pain in my stomach and the absolute spasming esophagus most of the night, I really wanted to just retire from living for a while.  And I cried out to God.  And cried out some more.  And some more, and more and more.....You get the picture.  And yet there was no deliverance.  No end to this ordeal.  And in my mind, no purpose.  

As I was in the wee hours of the night, it came into my mind how often God healed people.  And directly following that thought was the realization that not all who cried out to God were delivered.  Jesus wasn't.  Paul wasn't.  The apostles who were martyred weren't.  Joseph wasn't.  2 Corinthians 11:24-25 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.     2 Corinthians 12:7-9even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.   Matthew 27:46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  Joseph's story of suffering and ultimate deliverance can be found in Genesis 37-47  We see Peter persecuted, John exiled and James (John's brother) killed in Acts 12.  

But all these, in my mind anyway had purpose.  They glorified God.  How was my stomach ache doing that??  Then the Lord brought Job to my mind.  Does there seem to be any more purposeless suffering then that poor man went through?  Just to prove something between God and Satan!  

So all this is going through my mind, along with the lesson on suffering from BSF and it finally got it.  Suffering, all types of suffering help us to identify more closely to Jesus. Bear with me as I flesh this out.  

Romans 8:17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.  Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

When we suffer, we identify and feel what Christ went through for us, at least in a small part.  The physical pain, the spiritual abandonment, the emotional loneliness and heartache.  We can feel and understand more deeply what our Savior did for us.  It brings us closer to Him and can fill us with gratitude for His loving sacrifice.  Did Jesus' stomach feel like it was ripping apart, His chest heaving with spasms?  We hear his heartbreak when He calls out to the Father, feeling abandoned and deserted.  When we don't get delivered from our suffering, however big or small, don't we feel that same abandonment?  

And look at Job.  He lost everything for what seems like a "shoving match" between God and Satan.  He cried out.  He questioned.  He was lost and confused.  No deliverance came for quite some time.  But then....but God.....Job learned an important lesson.  God is God and we are not.  God revealed Himself to Job and Job finally understood who God really was.  Job 40:3-5 3 Then Job replied to the Lord, 4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?  I will cover my mouth with my hand. 5 I have said too much already.  I have nothing more to say.”  God went on to reveal Himself even more to Job. Job 42:1-6  Then Job replied to the Lord:  2 “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.  3 You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’  It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.  4 You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!  I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’5 I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.  6 I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

His suffering not only put Satan in his place, but it drew Him closer to God.  He finally was blessed with a true, enlarged, amazing revelation of the God he served and loved.  

So, I learned that night that my suffering, even though it seemed for nothing, really has so much purpose.  I draw closer to Christ, my Lord and Savior,  I understand more what He went through for me, I see God's hand and let Him be God even though I don't always understand why I need to go through some of the things I do.  From our BSF workbook, "Trust God with your hardships and the hard questions, whether you understand His purposes or not....Can you move beyond enduring your pain to rejoice in God's purposes, even when you do not fully understand His ways?  God is often doing something bigger than we imagine that takes longer than we expect." 

Lord, thank You for suffering.  Even when it seems pointless and purposeless.  I know there is nothing wasted with You.  Give us understanding, give us faith, give us endurance and help us to trust You as You bring us through the struggles of this life.  Let us even glorify You when we don't get it.  Let our pain identify us with our Savior even more.  Thank You that You brought this lesson to me.  It was unpleasant at best, but as always You know exactly what You are doing.  And like Job, I repent of questioning Your heart.  In Jesus' Name, amen.  

Love This Song!

 I heard a song on Sunday that I had not heard before.  Oh it so speaks to my life.  Everyday, I desire to let Christ alone shine through me.  Every day it is Him and not me.  I am for ever grateful for His deliverance, His redemption of me.  I'm reminded of John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.  

This song is a beautiful story of the Christian life.  Redeemed, lived, carried, forgiven, strengthened...all only through Christ, by Christ and for Christ.  To Him be the glory. 

Enjoy this beautiful song today.  And rest in the Presence of your Savior.