The sovereignty of God brings all the good that we think is good, and all trials for His good into our lives. A moving short video
Category: trials
The promise of Jesus: TRIALS
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
We Christians often say that the love of God to send His own Son to die in our place as punishment for our sin is incomprehensible. His is a perfect love, eternal love, unconditional love. We do not understand a love like that. But we are grateful for it!
If there is one failing we have, it is that we underestimate the hatred satan has for us. A hate like his is incomprehensible, we forget how dark it actually is. Satan’s original name is the light, (Isaiah 14:12) but he descended into total darkness. His mind is a cesspool of black sewage and his heart has shrunk into a dark raisin with the mass of a million dead suns. His hatred of Jesus, and by extension of us, is eternal, incendiary, flaming and all-consuming evil that has no end.
We do not like to think of an enemy like that who has such a constant hatred of us, so we don’t.
Therefore very often we are surprised when a trial comes. If we live in a Western nation, especially, we are wealthy by the world’s standards, happy, productive, going along perhaps for years with no major problems. Then suddenly one day, BLAM.
Not all trials are directly from satan. Some are because the world itself is sinful. Some of our trials are because we are sinful and we’re just experiencing the consequences of our own mess. But some are definitely because satan has attacked us.
Our first reaction is to moan and bewail the situation, disoriented because of the sudden cut-off of light. It is like when you come into the condo from the bright, sunny beach. You go “whoa” and stop walking because it takes your eyes a second to adjust. If you have woken up one day to find yourself in a moment of darkness it is all right to stop for a second and wait for the heart and mind to adjust to a new reality. But take heart, you don’t have to remain in a state of disorientation or darkness. Your eyes will adjust, and if you remain in the Word when your eyes clear they will rest on Him.
Jesus said He said we would have trials so that in Him we may have peace.
‘Peace? Peace?’ You shout. How can I have peace? I am facing foreclosure! I am being hauled to court on false charges! I was diagnosed with a fatal cancer! My child was just killed! Peace, you say? There is no peace!’
Oh, but there is. Here’s why: There is nothing that you are going through that Jesus did not go through. Nothing.
Are you grieving over a death of a loved one? Jesus wept over His dead friend and over his beloved city. (John 11:35, Luke 19:41).
Have you been arrested on false charges? Jesus was. He was hauled off in handcuffs in front of His friends and students. (John 18:12)
Have you been taken to court unjustly? Jesus experienced that. And He was convicted, too. (John 19:16).
Have you been threatened with violence? Jesus endured it. (Luke 4:29).
Have you been conspired against? Jesus was too. (Mark 3:6).
Have you been stabbed, spit on, tortured with violence? Jesus suffered it. (John 19:1-2; John 19:18, Matthew 26:67).
Have you been rejected by even your own neighbors? Jesus knew the pain of it. (John 4:24; John 4:44).
Have you been faced with penury and poverty? Jesus was homeless. (Luke 9:58).
Have you faced temptation of the pride of life or the sin of the flesh? Jesus was offered it. (Matthew 4:1-11).
Even those of us with medical issues can know that Jesus sympathizes. If your body is broken from a paralyzing accident or is rife with a dread disease, Jesus endured that. How so? Because He came from eternally holy glory to pour himself inside sinful and putrid flesh and live in it for over 30 years. He allowed His body to become a cancer, comparatively speaking. (John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14)
He told us ahead of time that we would have trials, not so we could worry about what those trials are or when they would come. There is no need to obsess about them. But when they DO come, and they will, He has gone before us to take unto Himself your sorrows, and to give you peace through your trial. His peace has another gifting aspect to it: if we dive deep into His peace within our trial, we don’t have to sin throughout it.
Doing this in the midst of our trial shows Jesus to the world: “and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat.” (1 Corinthians 4:12-13)
And the more we pray for our enemies and bless them that persecute us, (Romans 12:14) the more our faith will grow and the more peace we will have.
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)
So we can have the light within instead of the darkness. He made a spectacle of the darkness while He was even on the cross they are forever disqualified from having jurisdiction over you.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
You might be going through the fight of your life, but FAITH IS THE VICTORY
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Count it all joy
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
Sermon on that verse by Charles Spurgeon:
“Beginning with this word “brethren,” James shows a true brotherly sympathy with believers in their trials, and this is a main part of Christian fellowship. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” If we are not tempted ourselves at this moment, others are: let us remember them in our prayers; for in due time our turn will come, and we shall be put into the crucible. As we would desire to receive sympathy and help in our hour of need, let us render it freely to those who are now enduring trial. Let us remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them, and those that suffer affliction as being ourselves in the body. Remembering the trials of his brethren, James tries to cheer them, and therefore he says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers trials.” It is a part of our high calling to rise ourselves into confidence; and it is also our duty to see that none of our brethren despond, much less despair. The whole tendency of our holy faith is to elevate and to encourage.”
Please remember our brethren in love. Carry their burdens, for would you not want someone to come alongside you in your time of trouble and carry yours?
Trials bring patience. As Spurgeon says,
“the kind of patience is when experience enables a man to bear ill-treatment, slander, and injury without resentment. He feels it keenly, but he bears it meekly. Like his Master, he opens not his mouth to reply, and refuses to return railing for railing. Contrariwise he gives blessing in return for cursing; like the sandal-wood tree which perfumes the axe which cuts it. Blessed is that holy charity which hopeth all things, endureth all things, and is not easily provoked. Ah, friend, if the grace of God by trial shall work in you the quiet patience which never grows angry, and never ceases to love, you may have lost a trifle of comfort, but you have gained a solid weight of character.”
“They have built a new lighthouse upon the Eddystone: how do we know that it will stand? We judge by certain laws and principles, and feel tolerably safe about the structure; but, after all, we shall know best if after-years when a thousand tempests have beaten upon the lighthouse in vain. We need trials as a test as much as we need divine truth as our food.”
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| Joseph Mallord Wm Turner, The Eddystone Lighthouse |
In these dark days, it is our love and our light which is from Jesus that makes the difference. Be Christ-loving by loving those who persecute you, and pray for them.
“and you, dear brother, if ever you are to be a leader and a helper, as you would wish to be, in the church of God, it must be by such means as this that you must be prepared for it. Do you not wish to have every virtue developed? Do you not wish to become a perfect man in Christ Jesus? If so, welcome with all joy divers trials and temptations; fly to God with them; bless Him for having sent them: ask Him to help you to bear them with patience, and then let that patience have its perfect work, and so by the Spirit of God you shall become “perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.” May the Comforter bless this word to your hearts, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.”
Prepping: what should a Christian do?
“Prepare.” We hear that word constantly these days. The Department of Homeland Security regularly promotes the wisdom of individual and community preparedness before disasters hit. The Centers for Disease Control have been issuing readiness bulletins. There’s National Preparedness Month. And even in the chain stores like the Dollar Store, little tags next to the price of tuna remind us of which items are good to stock in readiness bags. Have you seen those? I have.
Preparedness only makes sense. The US and other nations have been hammered with constant man-made and natural disasters. Evacuations are called, electricity goes off, banks are closed, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, volcanoes, and riots/protests have disrupted much of daily life, everywhere, at some point. Having food, water, and knowledge of an evacuation route prepared in advance is a practical and life-saving measure for any family.
Culturally, prepping hit the mainstream just a few years ago. While there have always been survivalists, much of Middle America considered them extreme. Eschewing the “survival gear, off the grid, Berky, arsenal, hands off my generator, shoot to kill” kind of prepping, the numerous disasters hitting the world have caused many lay-people to re-think their casual attitude toward the amenities we have taken for granted.
Now at least a light form of prepping is on everyone’s lips. Recently we’ve even seen television shows about “prepping.” Preparing for doom is now entertainment? I guess so.
Preppers abound now, and there are websites dedicated to the preparations one needs to make in order to survive whatever your flavor of doom in your opinion is coming. There are even church groups promoting preparation for coming disaster. (Christian Emergency Preparedness Network) The entering into the fray of a Christian group seems to have unnerved the run of the mill preppers a little. Maybe this is getting serious, people think.
Yes. It is.
The Christian Emergency Preparedness Network says that their focus on preparedness is different from the survivalist or the layman prepper. CEPN member David Pike said,
“The thing that is so disturbing about so many of the preppers is that they have all of the food for themselves and they figure on taking care of their immediate family and oftentimes they’ll have lots of firearms. Don’t mistake me, I’m a firearms proponent, but it’s like they’re going to be shooting at the neighbors to protect their own food supply. That doesn’t last very long,” said Pike, a former president of the Champaign County Rifle Association. “You have to be part of a community. You have to have business continue to operate. You have to interact with your neighbors because that’s what civilization is all about. You give and in exchange they give back. You maintain some kind of sense of community. “This is very much Christ-centered. You want to extend yourself in charity to others. You can’t do that without limits, but you want to maintain as much sense of community as possible.”
When Joel Rosenberg writes, Pray for peace, but prepare for war, what does that mean exactly? In Israel, it means buying gas masks, keeping eyes open for terror activity, and staying up to the minute with government-issued bulletins. In America, that admonition by our country’s most famous ‘not-prophet’ is a little murkier.
Certainly we see that no place in the US is immune from a ‘natural’ disaster. Floods, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes and even volcanic activity has emerged as a constant companion here on America’s shores. FBI and DHS warnings of terrorist activity on our soil have been issued. Riots, strikes, and protests have disrupted cities. It is a fact that we need to be prepared.
The point of this article is to ponder, to what extent? And prepare, for what purpose?
If we prepare as the survivalists do, we are taking our eyes off Jesus, who is our provider. The story of the man in Las Vegas who died holding a grudge against the government and a deep distrust of everything, having hidden 7M in gold in and around his house comes to mind. Hoarding is not living.
The Christian group up above mentioned preparing so that we can connect as community in the wake of disaster and to help our neighbor is a better approach, in my opinion. However, I’d like to caution us all very much here. We may be Christian but we live with a sin nature. That nature is permeated with selfishness, greed, and an instinct for self-preservation. That is why when a person or family is faced with a disaster that has overturned their life, such as a hurricane or martial law or terrorist bombing, it will take a strong and mature Christian to apply the Godly principles of loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that there is no greater love than laying down one’s life for his friends (John 15:12-13.) Yet people today- even Christians- get ticked off if someone cuts in front of us on the highway or enters the 10 item check out lane with 12 items. Are you strong enough in Jesus to offer your neighbor your last piece of bread?
This means that no matter you or your family’s decision on the level of personal preparedness you’ve undertaken, we have to be prepared in the Word. Christian maturity is the best preparation for what is coming. No matter how many canned goods you have, the only way to be prepared to give them to a neighbor will be to have allowed the Lord to strengthen you in sanctification. All the preps you want and all the good intentions you hold will matter nothing of your faith is a wisp that allows for quick entry of selfishness and greed and fear- at the expense of your application of Godly principles.
I say this for a reason. In March 2010 I’d written that I felt America’s point of no return had been reached. That God’s judgment would be falling soon. Not just warnings- judgment. I feel this even more strongly now than I did then. I do not know when we will be raptured, though it feels soon. However I really do not know the Lord’s plan for us on earth until that point. We may escape all these things, or we may be on earth when the Psalm 83 war, Isaiah 17 destruction, Isaiah 19 violence, or other wars and terror occur. And a war in the Middle East will definitely affect us all. Would you be ready for $10/gallon gas? He may send more natural disasters upon our shores that even destroy cities as did Katrina or 9/11. Hatred of Christians is rising, even in America. I don’t know. But it feels like things will get rough until we are called home.
You may be thinking you’re strong enough to withstand trials and will certainly give your last piece of bread to your neighbor. Really? Peter was with Jesus for three years, was the first one to acknowledge Him as Lord, was the only one to get out of the boat, he cut off the soldier’s ear in defense of Jesus, but when it came time to preserve his own life, he denied Jesus three times in quick succession. Are you stronger than Peter?
A big difference between us and Peter at that terrible moment is that we have the Holy Spirit inside us. Denying the Spirit the opportunity to have grown us while times have been good will ultimately be our disappointment when times get hard. Peter’s life ended well. A martyr, he lived life after Pentecost in submission to Jesus and relied on Him for everything- including Godly integrity when times got very hard, even unto death. Are we weaker than Peter? I hope so, for when we are weak, we are strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Ron Graham recently had a very good essay about this. I feel the same as he does. His article is called “Judgment, Not Warning.” He wrote,
“Many Christians see the gloom on the horizon but believe that the Rapture of the Ekklesia will occur before any serious consequences ensue. This is flawed thinking at best. The word of God tells us that the saints will be removed prior to the wrath of God to come, but we are never told that we won’t go through trials and tribulations prior to the Rapture. On the contrary, we are told by our Lord Himself that we will face much persecution, hatred, and menacing times.”
“People, what is happening in America today is not a symptom of the times or even a “warning” of coming judgment. Judgment is here, America, and it’s not going to get easier to contend with. It’s growing exponentially worse every day. It may seem like I’m harping on this issue but as a watchman I have a responsibility to my brethren – and to my God. All God’s watchmen have been entrusted with godly discernment. So we step out into the front lines, place our focus on the coming storms, and then ride back to town and lay out a scenario of what we see coming – to all who will listen.”
Well said, Brother.
Your own earthly preparation should be prayerfully approached based on your means, location, and family situation. Preparations should be enacted now. However, what is more important is your spiritual preparation. That should be deepening, and deepening fast. Do not take your prayer life casually. Do not take your bible study haphazardly. Do not forgo assembling with the saints. We must seek all the more to assemble together as we see the day approaching! (Hebrews 10:25). Preparation in Christ not only strengthens us spiritually as individuals, but Christian maturity in sanctification will allow us to apply Jesus’s principles when the trials come.
We are told there will be Godlessness in the last days. This set of verses applies not to the unsaved, but to those people sitting next to you in the pew. They may be only holding to a form of Godliness, which will evaporate like a wisp the moment times get hard.
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Prepare yourself to be IN Christ very firmly for when the day comes when you may be tested by a choice to hoard food for yourself or to offer it to your neighbor at the expense of yourself. Yet always look to but through the hard times we’re experiencing now and view the glory ahead. Look to Jesus! The best prepping is going on at this moment! Jesus is the ultimate prepper!
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3).
Personal testimony: reclaiming joy after a heartbreak
I am in the midst of finalizing the last essay regarding the LORD’S Four Sore Judgments: beasts. But I felt compelled to leave off that till tomorrow, and write something of a more personal nature today.
I have written once or twice about personal things, but mostly I keep it technical so the focus can on Jesus and the Word. I also personally hate to write about emotional things. But here goes.
It has to do with how I handle devastating personal attacks or heartbreaking betrayals. If you are a bible-believing, fundamentalist Christian in today’s world, I don’t care where you are in the world, America or Iran or anywhere in between, the world hates you. At some point you will have to endure a devastating heartbreak for Jesus’ name.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…” (John 15:18-20a).
“Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.” (1 John 3:13)
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
It is especially difficult when those revilings against you come not from the world, but from within the confines of the safest place where you thought you could be safe: your own church and from people who profess Christ. I wrote about the State of the Church a while ago, and how more and more churches are turning into sheep-shearing or sheep-slaughtering factories by false teachers or pastors who run them. The case of church carnality and abuse is dealt with in Part 5a, Part 5b, and Conclusion. Unfortunately personal attacks and/or betrayals inside churches are becoming more frequent, and many of you have written to me about your own stories.
Now, I am not talking about the minor day-to-day slings and arrows of life. Sins abound and people are going to get on your nerves, say the wrong thing, take credit for your work, lie, cheat and steal, in the workplace and some of them happen even in church. That’s life and we forgive and move on. I’m talking about the devastating things that happen that make you want to quit church forever. The kind that set you back years in your walk. The things that happen where you just want to throw in the towel. The big things.
Fortunately I have had only two of those. I am a baby Christian, lol. I know there will be more. Here is what I do:
First, I get very angry. That’s the flesh. This kind of anger is different from righteous anger. When I am reviled against I get mad because my feelings are hurt. So I rant and rave in my head or at home alone out loud. I say stupid things, like “I pray that he dies of a thousand plagues!” Or, “I hope his tongue shrivels up!” That doesn’t last long, because that kind of lashing-out anger is bad. If I said anything or even thought anything negative about the person, I repent sincerely to the Father. I know the flesh wants to rear up and be mad, and to some small degree I let it because I’m human, after all. But I really try to let the Spirit restrain my sin, because that would be all the more for me to repent about! I do not let myself stay angry for longer than a day. I take my action from this verse:
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:25-27)
When that anger simmers down I cry or get depressed. I lay around moaning “I can’t take any more.” Or “Why me?” Or something equally piteous. I’m useless to anyone, I can’t think or function well. That goes on for a day. Then I stop it.
Like Bob Newhart said in his famous comedy skit, “Stop it!” How does one stop one’s self from feeling anger or sadness or grief over a hurtful situation we are currently enduring? Emotions and thoughts are a choice. We don’t feel love, we choose love. How else to explain marriages that successfully endure for fifty or more years? If one of the spouses bailed every time they felt mad, every marriage would fail. They persevere in love even when they don’t feel love. I want the joy of Jesus. I am in the depressing part of the cycle. There is a gap, and I will not reach that joy unless I move my body and change my thoughts.You choose it. Anger is a choice. Hurt is a choice. In that way I simply choose to stop feeling mad. I do this 3 ways.
1. Move the body. To move my body, I rouse myself, I get off the couch, and I resume normal life. Chores, shopping, cleaning, no matter how minor, I do it. I make my body get up and do something normal. Do the dishes. Cook some soup. Vacuum the rug. Whatever. And I keep doing that normal thing even though I don’t feel like it, until it feels normal again.
2. Capture the mind. As for the emotional thought process, I stop thinking about the wound. The first thing I want to do is constantly rehash it all over in my mind. When the thoughts come into my head to relive the event or the hurt, whatever it was, over and over, I stop it. I certainly don’t talk about it. I deliberately capture every thought. (2 Corinthians 10:5). If what I am thinking is weakening me through negative emotions and hindering my joy, then I stop thinking about it. Satan is too sneaky and Jesus is to important for me to be sidelined by grief or upset. So what? I’ll be happy in heaven. For now, I have work to do.
People put too high a regard on their feelings. Feelings are temporal, fleeting and deceiving. I allow the hurt and grief to have expression through tears or anger for a short time, and then it is time to get back to work. When I sink into my problems they tend to become large and Jesus becomes small. When I concentrate on Jesus, my problems become small and He becomes big. Therefore,
3. Concentrate on Jesus. Spiritually, I reclaim my joy through Jesus. Jesus IS my joy and He is the path to my reclaimed joy in the dark times. To that end, I spend a lot of time reading His word. It washes me. I spend a lot of time listening to hymns (not contemporary praise music, which is as empty as a tin can rolling down a tumbleweed highway). Old Hymns have doctrine in them and therefore are edifying. I sing and I talk aloud, either bible verses or the music. And last, I listen to sermons. I am not feeling the joy yet. BUT I KNOW I WILL.
Singing, praising, listening will allow the Spirit to apply truth to your mind and comfort to your heart. Let Him do it. Instead of running to my dark place, I run to the Light.
My own process involves gravitating to sermons about Genesis 1 at the dark times. Listening to sermons on Genesis 1:1 helps me to put my problems in perspective! The majesty of God the creator is revealed in Genesis and His eternity and holiness and power compared to my puny problems puts myself into perspective in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. He is great and good. I am not. And yet, He loves me. I begin to feel the joy again.
I apply Philippians 4:8-9 here:
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
And guess what? Putting off the negative, holding on to what is good, praising His name, washed in the word, pondering the noble and performing praiseworthy things does the trick. Pretty soon I feel the Holy Spirit’s strength flowing back into me! I start feeling the heartbeat of joy again! He wants to lift us up! If I just continue walking He meets me more than halfway and showers grace and strength to me! He wants to do that abundantly for everyone, you included!
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Persevering in the faith is not glamorous. It is hard, hard work. It doesn’t happen by magic. There is no genie who will wave his wand over you and all your feelings of heartbreak or betrayal will go away. Persevering in the faith, to me, means putting one foot in front of the other. Each day. Some days if the dark time has come and I’m enduring a trial, means I do so mechanically, tearfully, slowly, but even though I’m moving slowly, my eyes are fixed on Jesus!!!!! Keep your eyes on him and the joy will return. He wants to comfort you! He shed His blood for you, didn’t he? He wants to restore you.
Don’t let grief or satan or anything steal your joy. It sounds like an oxymoron, but some days we just have to work at being joyful. One day my faith will be sight, and He will wipe away my tears. My heart will be full of love, never to experience another heartbreak or betrayal. What a day that will be! Meanwhile I’ll close not from the bible, but John Prine lyric, “A heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.” Don’t you want a strong, courageous heart? Wash those stains with Jesus’s blood. It will come out clean and strong, I promise. Better yet, HE PROMISES.
“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5).
Is your praise louder than the tornado’s roar?
It is a sober morning as we wake up and as the daylight rises we see the overnight storm damage. I had a sleepless night as storm after storm rolled through, but the house is intact. I’m thankful for the Lord’s protection. Now one may say, ‘what about all those believers who prayed but whose homes were destroyed? Didn’t they have the Lord’s protection?’ Yes, they did.
In my case, I prayed to the Lord for protection of my body and my home from storm damage. I have full faith and trust that He would do it, and He did.
Others who pray the same in full faith but whose homes are now rubble are also under His protection. The effects of sin in this world means that there will be suffering, but those who are suffering have a new opportunity this morning to turn to Him, and think of eternal things. It affords an opportunity for Christian ministries to minister in His name to the lost, the weak, the brethren. Living in a fallen world means bad things will happen.
I prayed for protection last night and I knew He is able to deliver it. But I did not pray, “Protect me, O Lord, for I am one of your children and You are on my side.” That is testing the Lord. I know His will as it is revealed in the Word, but I do not know His will in each specific circumstance of my life. If I was to go through a trial by enduring a lost dwelling and possessions, let it be so. It doesn’t alter my faith at all. When you have an eternal perspective, the temporary circumstances of my life gain their proper position. Now I’m not as strong as Paul who said of his trials, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10) but his kind of attitude is my daily goal to seek and try and reach.
I think of Daniel 3 and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing in front of King Nebuchadnezzar, and they said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16b-18).
The furnace was a room sized furnace you know. Picture the men shoveling coal into the Titanic’s room-sized boilers, and that was what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were facing. These furnaces were searingly hot. They were so hot that when the King ordered the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter, the men who were ordered to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego inside were instantly killed by the heat.
Facing that, they did not waver. They did not say, “We are faithful and therefore He will not let us come to harm.” Their prayer in the face of a fiery trial was strong, with the proper perspective of understanding that it may not be His will to allow them no harm. It didn’t alter their faith one bit. He knew He would cover them, but if He didn’t, that was OK too. God is still sovereign.
“The proof of conversion is that he who professes faith in Jesus perseveres in faith and grows in sanctification throughout his life.” ~Paul Washer
That proof is the perseverance in faith especially when storms are ripping through, when death or loss or injury come, when we can say of this trial or that one, “Lord grow me in sanctification so that You are pleased with me.” Sing praises to Him who saves, in the calm and in the storm. Their faith was startling to the King, and Nebuchadnezzar replied in a fury. But when God chose to show Himself in the furnace the men said to the King, “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25).
The King then did what? Praised God. “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.” (Daniel 3:28-29)
When the storms come, sing louder, knowing that He is sovereign, and all things are working for the good to those who love Him who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Perhaps your purpose in your trial is simply to sing praises to him, louder than the storm, so that others may hear and believe.
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How do you go through trials?
At my church, we are studying 2 Corinthians on Wednesday nights. We looked at chapter 11 this week. We got to the end where Paul was reluctantly boasting in his sufferings for Christ (verses 22-39). Our teacher asked us something like, (if I remember correctly), “How do you handle sufferings? What do you do?”
I thought about that for a few days. I like when our teachers and pastors ask us questions, because I really think about the answers. I like having something biblical to chew over. Here is my answer:
1. I tell myself that this present trial is not permanent. Even if I were to receive a fatal diagnosis or were to suffer in an accident where I was totally disabled, the trial is not permanent. It is temporary. This life is short, being but a vapor (James 4:14). A 20 or even a 40 year trial is nothing, compared to eternity. And thus far, thanks to God’s grace, I have NOT received a trial that has lasted all my life. At most, one has lasted 5 years, and most of the rest only a few weeks or months. So whatever I am going through will end. I tell myself that often, because it is true.
2. My trial is not as bad as someone else’s. There is always a Christian out there who is suffering more, and usually with more grace than I am, too. Am I in jail for my faith? No. Have I lost employment for my faith? No. Have I lost a child because of Jesus’s name? No. And in reading Paul’s resume of sufferings, being the epitome of how His grace is sufficient, I have nothing to complain about, even when I am at my darkest or my lowest.
3. I tell myself that He is Good. He IS Good therefore everything He does is good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Therefore everything He does is Good. Even Job, who lost all, suffered much, went through one of the bible’s most difficult trials, it was Good. How so, you say? Job’s trial, his righteousness in looking to God in all things, his victory over the devil as a result, and his restoration was set into the bible, to be read by countless millions of Christians going through trials and needing encouragement. Job’s trial was bad, but it helped millions, over thousands of years. Now that’s good! So as dark as my trial is, I know something good will emerge out of it.
4. I stay positive. I do not dwell on the bad part I am going through, but pray, read the bible, and tell myself repeatedly that it is for the good. I apply 2 Corinthians 10:5 here, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I refuse to dwell on how low I may be feeling, because feelings are ephemeral. I concentrate on God’s sovereignty, because I know I can rest under His control, even in the seemingly “bad” things. I take the negative thoughts captive while I allow the positive thoughts in. I focus on the promises, not the trials. Romans 5:3-5 helps here, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” James 1:12 too.
5. Every time I have gone through a trial, I have gotten closer to God. Jesus is my Savior and Lord, and though I can never know all His ways nor ever plumb the depths of His grace, each time I emerge from something bad, I feel closer to Him. This is a good thing! I have that to look forward to on the other side. I have been the recipient of His grace, His comfort, His faithfulness. So even in the bottom of the valley I tell myself that the reward will be a closer relationship with Him. It keeps me going.
6. I read the bible a lot. When I am going through a dark time, I wash myself in the Word even more than usual. I cling to it. I read it and chew on it and it fills me up instead of the darkness and negativity that would be there instead. His gift of spiritual armor is in place for a reason. It can withstand the fiery darts of the evil one. The bible is truth, and it sustains us. I turn to it and appeal to the Spirit for encouragement. The Spirit assures us, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”” (Galatians 4:6). The Spirit empowers us, ““And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”” (Luke 24:49). He helps our weakness! “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;” (Romans 8:26). If I do not read the bible I would not be reading these truths about His work in our lives and His power to help us overcome.
These are a few of the things that I do when I come upon a trial, and I do have them. I am relentlessly joyful despite them, because the Most High is in my heart, helping me. I surely cannot do it on my own. But He is there, in so many ways. Never forget that, even as dark as it may get in your own life, dear brethren.
What do you do when you go through a trial?
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