Going through a hard time now?
God is with you, even in the midst of the hardest trials that you may face:
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5)
That's an iron-clad, double-negative guarantee.
Because of what Jesus accomplished at the Cross for us (Isaiah 53), we have another beautiful promise from our Loving Father:
"For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." (Isaiah 54:9)
God will never be angry with us ever again! Can you imagine that?
So, when trials, when hardships, when negative outcomes come our way, we should never feel that God is punishing us. We should never fall for the lie that we have done something wrong, and therefore God is "getting even" with us.
Not at all. In fact, we have a deeper promise:
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" (1 Peter 1:7)
God wants us to have more faith in Him, to trust Him to bless us in all things.
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)
and
"3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:3-5)
The patience that God wants to develop is a "cheerful endurance." No matter what is thrown our way, we rest in the truth that our God is greater than any circumstance!
God wants us to depend on Him for more things in our lives. In fact, Paul writes that we live by the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20-21)
However, there are aspects of our lives where we are still depending on our efforts, coming under law.
We live by faith, but in some areas of our lives, we are still prone to rely on our efforts. Such self-effort frustrates God's grace:
"4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5:4)
We are called to receive more of
"Ye have fallen from grace"
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)
Every weapon will fail, even if they are a result of our own failings.
So, we should not feel sad, discouraged, or even angry when bad things come our way.
What are they for, then? Why are these bad occurences allowed to ... occur?
To refine our faith, that we stop relying on our own efforts and trust more in His grace! (Romans 5:17)
Trials take place to build our character, to trust Him more, to trust ourselves less, and to receive more of His grace in our lives.
So, cheer up!
No comments:
Post a Comment