No
temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
I Corinthians 10:13
Greetings Brothers and
Sisters, in the name of Jesus, King of kings and LORD of lords. May His sweet
peace and rest, find you ‘resting’ in Him.
This question was voiced at
Bible study, ‘How many of you have been over whelmed this week?’ Some are
overwhelmed because they need to learn the life skill of saying ‘no’, exercising restraint, not giving into others expectations but making it a matter of prayer for what is His will for them.
How often the trials of life
have managed to beat us up, chew us up and spit us out only to leave us fragile
and overwhelmed! The symptoms of such trials are familiar to those under
such weighty circumstances. They are physically tired most of the time. Emotionally they are fragile,
tears flow easily and they are easily discouraged. Their perspective is skewed.
When I am overwhelmed I have
little sense of humor, my focus and my joy are as flat as a punctured tire and are
quickly replaced by unrest and fretting. Unbelief reigns as fear nurtures anxiety.
I find myself wrestling not resting. Is it my imagination or has my trial grown
larger as I pace its circumference? I presume to fix things, bending low I try
to hoist my troubles on my back. Instead I trip and fall crying out “Help LORD,
I can’t do this!” as my burden pins me to the ground, slamming the air from my
lungs. Humbled, now He can work.
We all make choices and reap
what we sow. But many Christians are suffering trials which are the result of
God’s growing them up, disciplining, pruning and preparing them to bring forth
much fruit (John 15) If God has
allowed troubles in your life, which hurt beyond measure, it feels as if He is unjust
or unloving. The enemy has been allowed to steamroller your family and you fight
to make it through the next minute. You think of Job. Your pain is jaw
dropping. You have been beaten down, giving you no time to grab a breath, as
one trial follows another in quick succession,
In the middle of trouble it
is very hard to see yourself as chosen by a loving God to bear heartache and
sorrow. All you know is it threatens to consume you. You do not sense His
Presence with you, but He is present
with you in your trial. Feel forsaken? He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5, Are you misunderstood? He knows. Not even his disciples
understood Him. Homesick? He left heaven to suffer your hell. Betrayed? John
13:21 Judas betrayed Him. He sees and He cares.
A man asked his friend, “How
are you?” The man poured out his troubles and then answered, “Under the
circumstances I am not doing so well.”
His friend commented, “Whatever
are you doing under there?”
In hard circumstances;
whether aware of it or not, we are besieged with temptation. This new
perspective poked at me demanding a response. I had never thought of trials as
source of temptation; but have always seen temptations as trials. After
pondering I have concluded ‘It’s TRUE!’ We question God‘s love, sobbing out
‘why?’ Does He care these trials are crushing me?
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not
stand at all.’” Isaiah 7:9
Watch for the symptoms of not
standing by faith in your trials.
1. We begin to believe lies. We dwell in
unbelief which is a sin.
2.
We stop feeding
readily on His Word. Colossians 3:16 (enemies goal)
3.
We run from the
Cross instead of to it. Galatians 2:20, Romans 6
4.
We make this
life about us, what we want, but it’s about Him.
5.
We are tempted
to be unfaithful.
6.
We are tempted
to ‘act’ instead of waiting on Him and His timing.
7.
We are tempted
to trust in ourselves (our flesh), not Him.
8.
We lose perspective. Our eyes turn inward and also
fix on circumstances.
9.
We lose our
intimacy with Him and our prayer life suffers.
10.
Our feelings reign and joy is a
stranger.
"It is by
His revelation through the Word that we behold spiritual realities; it is by
His loving discipline that we enter into those realities.” mjs
Trials are from the loving
Father’s hand to grow and strengthen us. We will never face a trial which will
not benefit us; as we surrender to the Cross. Beware of caring more
about being delivered ‘from’ the trial than delivered ‘in’ the trial.’ Even
though our suffering makes no sense here, it will some day. Can you truly say
’I want God’s will more than my own way? This is the time to prove the things
we believe and live our songs.
a.c. “Joys are on their way to us. They are always traveling to us
through the darkness of the night. There is never a night they are not coming.
Psalm 30:5
"Where man
calls for conditions, God calls for the Cross. As the finished work of the
Cross is applied to the life by the Holy Spirit, thereby progressively holding
the old man in the position of death, the believer is conditioned for the
Spirit's fullness. It is not a surrendered self, but a crucified self that
gives the Spirit freedom in the life. SR
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the
message in the midst of severe suffering
with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. I Thess 1:6
Interesting that this is the
only time in scripture, joy and suffering are mentioned in the same breath! God
so provides for His own, that He overrules all that is natural, even giving joy
in the midst of trials.
God, You who
discipline and nurture your own, You who love us beyond comprehension, keep us
faithful to You no matter how great the trial. Make us wise as we work out our
salvation with fear and trembling. I pray we will trust in You, LORD, not ourselves.
You know the way that I take and when You have tried me I shall come forth as
gold. For you are great and do
marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
I trust in your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that
I may fear your name. I will
praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I
will glorify your name forever. Psalm 86:10-12
All is Grace,
az
The Gospel (or Good News) message of Jesus Christ is so simple that it almost defies understanding. By evidenceofdesign| 1 video
