Purpose For The Trial Permitted

1 Peter 4:12 says, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.”

Trial, by biblical definition means this = an examination by a test; experiment; suffering that puts strength, patience, or faith to the test; afflictions or temptations that exercise and prove graces of virtues of men; test of virtue.

So so so good!

To many, the “trials” we face cannot be imagined to originate from a grace-filled benevolent God, but we have forgotten that God’s purpose for those who belong to Him is not to secure the greatest amount of “enjoyment”, but to place every man in the position of discipleship.... to give us the opportunity to resist temptation, to cultivate Christ-like habits, and to live an obedient, submissive, and truly righteous life.

Ahh but God doesn’t allow pain without purpose. And I believe He watches closely and with intense interest. I believe that He delights in seeing gold purified in the furnace and wheat winnowed from the chaff.

Trials and suffering of any kind are necessary in that they strengthen our faith and build our spiritual muscles. Trials keep us constantly reaching out and up. They keep us needing Him at a whole new level. My commentary says, “Too much comfort might make us think ourselves at home, so that we might not so ardently reach out our hands towards our coming glories!”

But As For Me... I Will Draw Near

Psalm 73:28 says, “But as for me, how good it is to be near to God! I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do!” The KJV says, “But it is good for me to DRAW near to God.”

Draw = to pull out, to cause to come, to raise from any depth, to attract. Draw. It’s the seeking, the action of searching.

And sometimes when it’s hardest to see is the precise time we much fight for vision.

The psalmist here is trying to “figure God out.” He’s trying to understand why it seems the wicked prosper... why they seem to have no problems. His doubts are stirring and he’s questioning whether keeping his heart pure was all in vain.

But we see clear evidence of his heart change in verse 17, “But... then I went into Your sanctuary O God...” and again in verse 21, “Then I realized that my heart was bitter and I was all torn up inside.”
The palmist made a decision to DRAW near to God in difficult times.

To draw near means that we realize that His presence is obtainable. He’s close and we have direct access to His sweet companionship. It means the laying open of our soul to God... that He might enter in and inspect us fully. It means assuming the posture of praise at all times. It means choosing to see with heavenly perspective and in Divine light. It means to be peacefully pleased with anything that well pleases the Father. All looks different when seen as the preserving of souls and advancing us spiritually.

There will always be mysteries, problems that human reasoning cannot solve. But when we stop looking for reason and start trusting in His goodness - everything changes.

As We Remember Let Us Dare To Hope

If I’m being honest, sometimes I experience feelings as the writer of Lamentations expresses in chapter 3. “He has led me into darkness.” “He has made me chew on gravel.” “All hope is lost.” But a closer examination of verse 21 brings clarity on a weekend following hard news. “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember...”

Yet = nevertheless, over and above, the state of remaining the same.
Dare = to have courage for any purpose, to have strength of mind, to undertake anything, not to be afraid, a challenge.
Hope = a desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of a obtaining it or a belief that it is attainable, confidence in future events, an opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence.

immediately following the prophets recall of distress and pain, he demonstrates his rise above it! This is glorious faith and trust!

We are to be rich in remembrance! Charles Spurgeon says, “You have lost much, Christian, but you have not lost your portion. Your God is your all. Therefore, if you have lost all but God, still you have your all left, since God is all.”

And so I can remember His great faithfulness. I can remember His mercy. I can recall His provision - even now in the midst of great uncertainty. And it is the remembering that allows me to have great hope!

May I be brave to say today, “I see nothing in the circumstances of my condition to comfort me, but I see something in God‘s nature, and in the goodness of His provision in the valley gives me hope for better things than destruction!”

YET I still DARE to HOPE!!

Amen???

Through

Isaiah 43:19 says this, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wastelands.”

I love so many things about this passage. “Do you not see it?” This is huge. I love this because it speaks to our intimacy with the Father. “Don’t you see it?” We can only know His goodness by experience with it... an encounter with the Creator of it... by a personal daily pursuit of it. It’s known to those who actively look for it! Which means we must seek the good even in the dry places. Even in the hard seasons of doubt and defeat.

He’s providing direction and provision in the wilderness where there is commonly no path. I love the promise that God is providing safety and security with certainty to our appointed destination. He’s even preparing a way through trials we’re unaware of yet! Glory!

It’s preparation and guidance. He’s preparing us and guiding us the whole way through.

Oh wait... through? Not out? He doesn’t say out. He says, “I will make a pathway through...”.

Through = from end to end, over the whole surface or extent, from beginning to end, to the ultimate purpose, to complete, to accomplish, to undergo, to sustain.

Yes. Through! God invites us to go through so that our dependency is deepened, and so that our trust in His goodness and provision alone is strengthened.

There’s only one way to preparation for the new things God wants to do and that’s THROUGH the wilderness.

Lord, Increase Our Faith

Luke 17:5 says, "The apostles said to the Lord, 'Show us how to increase our faith.'"

Just before this Jesus was talking about forgiveness. The verse just before it Jesus teaches, "Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks for forgiveness, you must forgive."

So it's interesting that just following this order the students of Jesus said, "Increase our faith."

I wonder if it's because it seemed to be the hardest thing for them to do... too great a strain on their spiritual health. And doesn't it seem simply impossible at times... doing something like forgiving others of malicious behavior and intent? YET... they were sincere in wanting to reproduce the Father's ways. Yearning... yet weak disciples. .
My commentary says this, "The duty of forgiving is one of the most difficult. It's so contrary to our natural feelings. It asks us to elevate above petty things like malice and revenge. It's so contrary to the world which tells us to hold on to grudges. That must be why Jesus spends so much time talking about it and so strenuously insists on it in order to having evidence that our hearts have been changed."

Faith increases our confidence in Jesus - so we don't become suspicious of His asking us to do impossible things.

It is the foundation of faith... the entire Gospel message is: FORGIVENESS. We are not saved by love... we are saved by GRACE. Ahh... yes: We are saved BY Grace to EXTEND Grace. It's only through our forgiveness that others truly see Jesus for themselves!!

Faith, when it is strong, has a high expectancy about it. And when we are expecting God to do mighty things, and believing that He WILL, it helps us to bear under the attacks of other people in the world. Expecting Him to work on our behalf gives us JOY and a person will generally readily put up with the inconvenience of the present when he knows there's great JOY just up ahead!

Stay close to Jesus. Keep studying His character. Meditate on His goodness. Remember His faithfulness. Get more acquainted with His promises. Be on guard against anything and everything that will dampen what you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Trust, Rely, Know, Acknowledge, and Recognize

Hard days. They come. And they beckon us to search His Word for comfort.

Proverbs 3:5-6, in the Amplified translation says this, “Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart. And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles block your way.]”

When we lean on your own understanding, it’s like were resting upon a broken reed which will break and fail us every time. And so we must come to a place where our human reasoning isn’t enough. Where the life events shrouded by mystery bring us to the feet of Jesus. Pastor Bill Johnson says, “Mystery is just as important as revelation. It gives us reason for trust.”

Reliance on God excludes fret and discontent and dissatisfaction. When we fully rely on Him, we believe that all is ordered for the best and living a slave to these turbulent passions is not living like Christ.

And so I focus on the words hard this week. Trust = confidence, reliance, or resting of the mind. Credit given without explanation. Rely = to rest on something; to have confidence in; to depend; a restful mind, undisturbed by doubt. Know = to perceive with certainty; to understand clearly; to be no stranger to; to be familiar; to have full assurance of. Acknowledge = to own or admit to be true by a declaration; to own with gratitude. Not “book” knowledge, but to know by interaction, from exchange and encounter. Recognize = to recollect; recover the knowledge of; to review, re-examine.

And so I’ll continue wrestling through it all. I’ll TRUST in Him without needing to fully understand. I’ll RELY on His strength while I rest undisturbed by doubt. I’ll KNOW Him so intimately that there’ll be no room for uncertainty. I’ll ACKNOWLEDGE Him as Grace-Giver in all things. And I’ll RECOGNIZE Him as the Good Father who is working all things out for my good and His glory!