Transformed by trouble
God has a purpose behind every problem.
He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus then he depends our Reading the Bible. The reason is obvious. You face circumstances 24 hours a day.
Jesus warned us that we would have problems in the world. No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life problems-free. But life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God’s growth process for you. Peter assures us that problems are normal, saying, “Don’t be bewildered or surprise when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange unusual thing that is going to happen to you.”
God uses problems to draw you closer to himself. The Bible says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in sprit.”. Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days--- when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you’re out of options, when the pain is great--- and you turn to God alone. It’s during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we’re in pain, we don’t have the energy for superficial prayers.
When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with intimating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus. We learn things about God in suffering that we can’t learn any other way
God could have kept Joseph out of jail, kept Daniel out of the Lion’s den, kept Jeremiah from being tossed into the slimy pit, Kept Paul from being shipwrecked three times, and kept the three Hebrew young men from being thrown into the blazing furnace but he didn’t. He let those problems happen, and every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.
Problems force us to look to God and he depend on him instead of ourselves. Paul testified to this benefit: “We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves, but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us.” You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you got.
Regardless of the cause, none of your problems could happen without God’s permission. Everything that happens to a child of God is father filtered, and he intends to use it for good even when Satan and others mean it for bad.
Every problem is a character building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. Paul said, “We know that these troubles produced patients. patient produces character. What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever.
Problems don’t automatically produce what God intends. Many people become bitter, rather than better, and never grow up. You have to respond the way Jesus would.
Remember that God’s plan is good. God knows what is best for you and has your best interests at heart. God told Jeremiah, “The plans I have for you [are] plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Joseph understood this truth when he told his brothers who had sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”
It is vital that you stay focused on God’s plan, not your pain or problems, That is how Jesus endured the pain of the cross, and we are urged to follow his example.. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards.
If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest. Your focus will determine your feelings. The secret of endurance is to remember that your pain is temporary but your reward will be eternal. Moses endured a life of problems because he was looking ahead to his reward. Paul endured hardship the same way. He said our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurable great glory that will last forever. Don’t give in to short term thinking. Stay focused on the end results. If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
Rejoice and give thanks. the Bible tells us to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
The Bible says, rejoice in the Lord always. It doesn’t say rejoice over your pain. You rejoice in the Lord. No matter what happens, you can rejoice in God’s loving care wisdom power and faithfulness. Jesus said before of joy at that time because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven.
We can also rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. We do not serve a distant and detached God who spouts encouraging clichés safely from the sideline. Instead, he enters into our suffering. Jesus did it in the incarnation, and the Spirit does it in us now. God will never leave us on our own.
If you’re facing troubles right now, don’t ask, why me? Instead ask, what do you want me to learn? Then trust God and keep on doing what’s right. You need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion. Don’t give up grow up.
John Baca
http://bacpro.ecrater.com
