trusting God

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Everything has a purpose

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NAS)

I believe one of the biggest mistakes the typical believer makes is failing to accept that “everything has a purpose.” When we encounter difficult situations, more often than not, our reaction is “why is this happening to me?”

The life of a follower of Christ is filled with God’s “whisper moments”. The Holy Spirit whispers to us God’s deepest and most profound lessons when we are in our deepest despair. The problem is we miss or delay hearing God’s voice because we are asking the wrong question.Instead of asking “why is this happening”, we should be asking “what do you want to show or teach in this moment?”

I am convinced that a major part of life is about properly fielding life’s problems. Problems and seemingly impossible situations is God’s way of making us more effective servants. If it’s true that God has a purpose for every believer, then His purpose is most often realized through the crucible of trouble.

Life is not nearly as much about multiple successes as we think. It is more about how we respond to failure, conflict and impasses. God is more concerned about how we respond to problems than He is about how many success stories we can tell.

No matter which way we spin it, the Christian life is a paradox. It is filled with life contradictions. It’s almost always opposite to how the world thinks and acts. Paul speaks to this issue when he reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4 that life is filled with contradictions, affliction, confusion and despair.

Then, in this same passage, Paul reminds us that all this difficulty has a divine purpose. When we properly respond to life’s troubles then the result is a personal death process that yields a Christ-likeness that profoundly touches other people.

Through all my years as a counselor I often said that God kept me constantly at the point of brokenness so that I could effectively reveal Christ to the hurting and wounded. Any time we act outside the realm of brokenness we are in danger of performing in the flesh.

That is the reason that the Scriptural principle of “all things work together” (Romans 8: 28-29) should be in the forefront of every believer’s mind. God is able to take every situation, no matter how desperate and hopeless it seems, and turn it into something eternally useful. But in order for that to happen, we must see that God has a purpose for everything that occurs in our life. No brush stroke on the canvas of your life is wasted; it is all used to complete God’s portrait of your life journey.

No matter what stage of life you are in, God is still speaking into your life, are you listening for God’s whisper?

“So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day. You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting: it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on. “ (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 The Voice)

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Trusting in the sufficiency of Christ

“In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge…For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily and you are complete in Him who is head of all principality and power…Christ who is our life.” (Colossians 2&3 – Paul speaking of Christ)

I believe the greatest truth that I have learned in my walk with God is the Biblical concept of the sufficiency of Christ. To learn of and walk in Christ’s sufficiency means that I acknowledge two key truths.

1. Christ’s is all I need to have and maintain a successful fellowship with my Heavenly Father. Christ is my sin bearer, my redeemer, my advocate, and my only connection to the throne of God. No amount of religious ritual, Christian service, religious/spiritual experience or denominational connection can improve or enhance my relationship with the Father. Only by being “In Christ” can I have assurance that God accepts me.

2. I am fully sufficient/equipped in Christ. Christ’s life in me gives me a sense of acceptance – so I don’t need the world’s acceptance. Christ gives me belongingness – therefore I don’t need to conform to the culture’s pressure of political correctness to fit in. I have a sense of safeness – because my security is in Christ’s ability to keep me safe, no matter what storm surrounds my life.

Because Christ is head of all principalities and powers, His life in me is greater than any tragedy, sickness, economic storm or major setback. There is no situation that we find ourselves in that God cannot deliver us from or through.

Living in and depending upon Christ’s sufficiency allows us to “rest”, because we know Jesus knows our situation and He is fully involved in every aspect our life.

So let go, trust in the sufficiency of Christ, and rest in Him as enough, regardless of your feelings. If you will trust the sufficiency of Christ for this moment, He will see you through.

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Overcoming Fear

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love and good judgment. 2 Timothy 1:7”

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can cause us to make drastic decisions or cause us to shrink into indecision. It can cause us to lose sleep, lose reason, lose our appetite and lose our hope. Like any powerful emotion, fear can control us to the point of becoming something we do not want to become.

Are you gripped by fear of what will happen in the near future? Are you at a major crossroad in your life that causes you to doubt yourself and your ability to make good decisions? As fear begins to slowly encompass you, remember that this fear is not from God, it’s from the enemy. The enemy desires for you to abandon your hope and cease trusting God.

The reality of trusting God only comes into play when you are faced with overwhelming circumstances and fear. Then you have to choose and take control. Will you acknowledge that this fear is from the enemy and cast it aside and trust God? Or will you let the enemy get into your head and render you useless?

Paul told Timothy (paraphrased) “The fear that you are feeling right now is not from God, it is from the devil. Instead of believing the lies that fear produces, believe God. He has given you a spirit of power, love and a sound mind”. That means that Christ has given you the power to overcome the fear, the love of God to assure you that He is in control, and a sound mind to make good decisions, even in the midst of doubt.

The key to overcoming doubt and fear is to have more confidence in the Lord’s ability to lead you than you have in the devil’s ability to deceive you. Trust the inner peace and cast aside the doubt and fear.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20) 

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The Power of the Cross

Mention the cross to the average believer and all they can say is, “that’s where Jesus died for me.”They are right. But there is much more to the cross than the sacrifice at Golgotha. I find that many, if not most believers, seldom think of the cross except at Easter. I realize Jesus said that we are to remember the death, burial and resurrection by practicing the Lord’s Supper. But usually we only reflect on the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. While that is a major attribute of the cross, it is just the beginning of what we should know regarding the cross.

Paul reminds us, “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1Cor. 1:18) Notice the phrase, “but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The power of God becomes operative in our life when the principle of the cross is applied.

What is the principle of the cross? It is the application of the death process that prunes us, so that we might be the recipient of the power of God. The cross is an instrument of death. It is the means by which God purges us of all those things that are inconsistent with “who we are in Christ.” It is the act of sanctification whereby all those things that hinder us from manifesting God’s power are put to death.

Paul describes this process in 2 Corinthians where he says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (which is Jesus) that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted…but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing. Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus (death process)…For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

The principle of the cross working in us (the death process) is the most important aspect of our spiritual maturity. When things fall apart we should pay attention, because it could be the cross process at work. It could be God attempting to get our attention because He wants to purge us of all those things that hinder the power of God working through us. The cross deals with things like arrogance, pride, self-centeredness, anger, selfishness, self-reliance and self-pity, and a myriad of other sins.

It’s not worth the fight, you can’t win anyway. Give up and allow God to do His work in you. Will you allow the “Principle of the Cross” to put to death all those things that keep you in control? God wants His power to rest upon you.

“You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here.” (2 Cor. 4:17- The Voice)

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God Has a Plan

Some would like to think that the whole human race is the children of God, but not so. It is true that we are a creation of God, but from a relationship perspective, all are separated from God by sin. The Scripture tells us that before salvation we were children of wrath; “…you were by nature children of wrath, but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:3-5)

When we put our trust in Christ we became someone we have never been before. We passed from death unto life. We are now a new creation with a new worldview. We once followed the world’s perspective on life, now we have a new perspective.

This new perspective/worldview affects everything in our life. We now see the world through the eyes of God’s Word. Our reaction to the world’s disappointments and failures now has a spiritual component. We realize God is involved in every aspect of our life, and with that involvement He has a divine plan and purpose. When we hurt or suffer a great loss God is there to comfort us, but sometimes He often reveals a divine purpose in our suffering.

To illustrate my point I want to share a story recently sent to me by a dear friend. It’s the story of how the old gospel song “Precious Lord” came about.

“Back in 1932, I was a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago’s south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn’t want to go; Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child, but a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie goodbye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.

However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was “Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead.'”

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that same night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him anymore or write gospel songs I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis.

Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died.

From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially one friend. The following Saturday evening he took me up to Maloney’s Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows.

I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody. Once in my head they just seemed to fall into place: ‘Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn, through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.’

The Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power.

And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.”

Tommy Dorsey

(For those too young to know who he is, Tommy Dorsey was a well-known band leader in the 1930’s and 40’s.)

God’s answers are wiser than our prayers.

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Union with Christ

For some reason, the typical follower of Christ falls into the trap of living their life under the umbrella of Performance Based Acceptance (PBA). That means in order to sense a degree of acceptance from God we must perform acts of service and devotion. For example, some feel that they must be involved in every program of the church, read a certain number of chapters in the Bible daily, set aside a designated place and time for daily prayer, and give a certain amount of money to the church in order to feel God’s acceptance.

Don’t get me wrong, all the above activities are things that every committed follower of Christ should be involved in. However, the problem is that when we do those things in order to feel accepted by God we fall into the devil’s subtle trap of believing that we must do something in order to receive God’s acceptance. It is better known as the “Cain mentality”.

Instead of receiving God’s acceptance through the blood sacrifice, Cain attempted to earn his own righteousness by bringing to the altar something he created instead of a blood sacrifice. We all know how that turned out for him. God never intended for man to earn His acceptance by good works. God’s ultimate intention is for us to receive His grace and acceptance through the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. Our works and service should be a reflection of our love and devotion, not an effort to earn His favor.

God offers a package deal. Christ and His sacrifice took care of all that separates man from God. Jesus paid our sin debt in full. All our sin is forgiven, past, present, and there is even a provision for our future sin. (1 John 1:9)

Union with Christ
We have eternal acceptance because we have union with Christ. Matter of fact, it is better to refer to our daily walk with the Lord as “fellowship” rather than “relationship”. Relationship smacks of something we have to do to maintain our position. Our relationship is eternally settled. We are in the family of God, we are joint heirs, we are grafted into the vine, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus – all because of our union with Christ. (Romans 6-8, 12:1-39 Ephesians 2:6, John 15)

In one spiritually judicious act (the death, burial and resurrection), we have been united with Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Here is a key Scripture in the form of Jesus’ prayer to the Father:

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone,(the disciples) but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me'” (John 17:20-23, NASB).

The above verse is a snapshot of God’s ultimate intention for His children. We are to be in Union with Him. That’s the reason Paul says in Colossians 2, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so (now) walk in Him.” In other words, since you are one with Christ, now walk in that oneness. We are to live with a moment to moment assurance that God’s indwelling never leaves us. We are never apart from His presence.

What does understanding and living out of our Union with Christ do for us? We have the potential of living from a position of victory and rest no matter what is going on in our life. We can rest assured that whatever we are going through, Christ is taking every step with us. He understands our frustration, our pain, our loneliness, our fear, our doubt. He is saying, “Yes, I know, just trust me and I will see you through.”

What a great way to begin a New Year, walking in your Union with Christ, knowing that because we are one with Him, all is well. Will you covenant with me this year to walk by faith in your Union with Christ? And will you choose, in the power of His strength, to trust God in every area of your life during 2014?

I pray that 2014 will be the best year ever for you and your family.

“May the God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please Him, make us into what gives Him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always! (Hebrews 12:20-22 “The Message”)

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Living In the Moment

One of my greatest weaknesses is a lack of patience. I believe the older you get the more patient you should become. I think I may be a slow learner in that area.

Recently I was in a checkout lane at the local Wal-Mart. Not many lanes were open but there were lots of people standing in line to be checked out. I immediately thought, “20 checkout lanes and only 3 lanes open? I can’t believe it, why don’t they hire enough employees? Don’t they know I don’t have all day long? This is ridiculous.”

Reflecting back on that moment, I was not only ashamed of my outburst of anger and lack of patience, but I was also reminded of how often I neglect living in the moment. If God is fully aware of our every moment, and all our circumstances, then wouldn’t it be to our benefit to take every moment and redeem it?

Maybe the Lord intended for me to be stuck in that long checkout line so that I might turn to my fellow shopper behind me and make a new friend. Maybe that person needed encouragement or maybe I needed to hear their story so that I could say to them, “How can I pray for you?”

Some of the most effective and God appointed moments have been an unplanned encounter with someone while running a shopping errand. I am learning that every moment cannot be measured by a clock or a yardstick. A time and space mentality will cause me to miss the moment. Besides, from eternity’s standpoint all we really have is the moment.

If the “moment” we are living in is uncomfortable or unpleasant it’s natural to look forward to a time when things will be better. But when we fixate on the future and focus on getting out of this season of life, we miss the nuggets of wisdom and grace that God may have for us. This is wisdom and grace that comes only as we learn to live in the moment.

Living in the moment helps us to realize that life is short and you can’t recapture the past and you can’t live in the future. All we have is the present. Psalm 39:4-5 reads, “My life is no longer than my hand! My whole life is but a moment to you.” (Living Bible)

When we fail to capture the moment we have a tendency to live without self-discipline or self-control. Our whole life is controlled by “when things get better”, rather than “God teach me what you want me to see, to know and to feel in this moment of life.” We often miss the value of suffering and what God desires to teach us in the context of the moment.

Whether your moment in life is smooth sailing or your moment of life is unpleasant and uncomfortable, I want to challenge you to live in the moment. Look for God in every moment of your life and expect to find nuggets of His grace.

I want to encourage you to consider a statement that I have recently taken to heart:
“Recognize the value of each moment. Each moment is precious because it will never come again. Wherever you find yourself, look for God in each moment and in each situation.”

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Death of a Vision

 

The human is unique to all of God’s creation in several ways, but the most distinguishing feature is the need to produce and excel in life. Within every believer God places desires and ambitions that are unique to them.  There are some who are able to discern and discover what they are to do with their life at an early age. But more often than not, it takes many years for most adults to get it all figured out and discover their calling.

There are many elements to a calling, such as natural giftedness and talent, a burning desire, how we relate to people, spiritual gifts and experience.  Sometimes those elements are present from early on in our life but most often they develop as we step toward and participate in our calling. However, these are all secondary elements to our calling.

The primary aspect of a calling is the vision God births in our heart. One way we know that our vision is from God is it’s impossible for us to accomplish apart from His supernatural intervention. We see this throughout Scripture as God calls His servants to a particular task for a certain time in history.

Visions from God have a unique aspect that separates it from how man normally operates.  When God gives a vision there is usually a time where the vision seems to die.  This is called “death of a vision.” We see this pattern throughout Scripture.  Joseph was given a dream and vision about him rising to political prominence over his brothers. But the next events led him to being sold as a slave and then being put in prison and falsely accused.

Abraham was told to leave his home and set out on a journey and God would tell him later where to go. One night God said to Abraham, “Look in the sky, how many stars you see?” Abraham said, “There are too many, I can’t count them.” Then God said, “That’s how many people will come from your seed.”  You can imagine how excited Abraham was to learn that his children would birth a whole nation; so many that you can’t even count them.  But twenty years later, Abraham was older and his wife was past child bearing age. His vision was dead – even biologically impossible.

Death of a vision is a pattern throughout scripture and it is a pattern that is often seen today among believers. God must have a divine purpose in the death of a vision.  It is part of a death process that must be present in every believer in order to be productive in the Kingdom.

Paul gives us a glimpse of the purpose and the value of a death process in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 where he conveys the principle of dying to our self-life.

“We are afflicted…perplexed…persecuted…struck down….always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to the death for Jesus‘sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. So death works in us but life in you.”   

In order for the life of Christ to be manifested throughout our life, we must go through a death process, putting to death everything that hinders His life from shining through us.  In God’s economy of things the death process actually prepares us for the day when He will fulfill the vision He has placed on our heart.  During Joseph’s and Abraham’s death of a vision God prepared them in ways that could not have been possible apart from the failures, disappointments and delays they encountered while waiting on God to bring the vision to pass.  But when God finally fulfilled their vision, wow what a spectacle. God miraculously birthed more than they ever thought or imagined.

I vividly remember the day when I sensed God’s call for me to enter full-time ministry. I remember where I was sitting in the church service. The call was so real that I looked at my wife wondering if she heard the same thing I heard.in the weeks and months that followed I felt as if God was going to call us to the mission field. Matter of fact I just knew somehow we would be involved in missions somewhere in the world.  When I left for Bible College the plans changed and I ended up training to be a pastor. My vision for missions was dead. When I rethought what God was saying to me regarding missions, I thought maybe He just wants me to support missions as a pastor. I did that, but there was still that strong pull toward personal, hands on mission involvement.

But fifteen years later God began to fulfill the vision He had given me for missions.  After my first mission trip into Russia, Romania, and Hungary, I knew that this was the end of the “death of a vision” and the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s plan. Over the past 20 years God has verified that calling and we have seen abundant fruit on several continents.

Here is my observation.  God allows the death of a vision in order to do at least two things. First, He wants to rid us of all those things that are inconsistent with “who we are in Christ”.  God’s calling is a serious matter and it’s important that God prepares us for spiritual warfare.  You can’t do battle with the enemy when you are out of shape spiritually.

Secondly, God allows the death of a vision to cause us to come to the conclusion that we cannot “make it happen” on our own.  God’s call always involves the impossible. Chances are if you can do it without God’s help and supernatural intervention, then it’s probably not of God.

Are you carrying around the “death of a vision?” Do you yet have an unfulfilled vision waiting for God’s intervention and open door?  Remember, if God has given us a vision, He has already equipped us to fulfill His calling in our life.  (Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:28)  When God is ready He will open the doors, clear the way and make it possible.  Just maybe it’s time to begin crying out to God in behalf of your vision? I leave you with a chorus from an old gospel song that conveys the importance of praying through.

“Just keep on praying, till the light breaks through.
The Lord will answer, will answer you.
God keeps his promise, his word is true,
Just keep on praying, till the light breaks through.”



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Believing God

 

“He that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

The above verse pretty much sums up the Christian life.  All God asks of us is that we believe Him, trust Him in every situation, even when the outlook is grim.

We see this principle played out throughout the Scripture.  When Jesus was teaching the 5000 in the countryside the disciples wanted to send them home to eat. Jesus wanted them to look to him and trust him in the situation. Jesus then miraculously multiplied the fish and feed the whole crowd with leftovers.

When Lazarus died the disciples and Lazarus’s sisters wondered why He didn’t come sooner.  But Jesus wanted them to trust Him even though it meant the death of Lazarus.  Jesus then proceeded to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus wanted them to trust in Him, even in the face of death.

Enoch is probably one of the greatest examples of trusting God.   The Scripture says, “By faith Enoch was translated.”  Because of his faith and trust in God he didn’t even have to die, God just took him up to heaven.  Enoch trusted God and he had no Bible, no songbook, and no teacher, no indwelling Holy Spirit but yet he trusted and believed God.  We have all those things but find it difficult to trust Him when we are in difficult times.

There are benefits when we choose by an act of our will to trust God.  Listed below are three benefits for you to consider.

  1. God will control our lives.  For the believer who chooses to go it on his own will soon realize his life is spinning out of control. That’s when Satan steps in and attempts to manipulate and gain a foothold in our life.   Faith says I can’t do it on my own, apart from Him I can do nothing.  To allow God to control our lives we must surrender our rights and expectations and trust every area of our life to His control.
  2. We can live in the light.  The world is searching for meaning and significance. They are groping in the dark looking for something to make sense of their life.  When decide to trust God, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God will provide light and understanding.
  3. The walk of faith and trust protects us from our enemies.  The Scripture says in Isaiah 54:17 the “No weapon formed against us shall prosper.”  The Hebrew in this verse indicates that “No plan, no instrument of destruction, no satanic artillery shall push you or run over you, but it will be done away with.”

Certainly there are many more benefits of trusting and walking with God.  I would like to encourage you to take a personal inventory to determine if you are trusting God in every area of your life.   If not, acknowledge your lack of trust and then determine with God’s help to trust Him in everything.

Faith ends where worry begins, and worry ends where faith begins.–George Mueller

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The Trial by Faith

Last week I played tennis for the first time this year. It wasn’t long before the hot sun took its toll on this old body. After the match two things dawned on me. First, I am not young anymore. Secondly, and more importantly, I was reminded of how important it was for me to resume the pain of my regular gym workouts, especially if I want to finish the match.

I hate working out. I just can’t comprehend those who say, “I just love working out.” I didn’t like working out when I was 20 years old and I don’t like it now. It hurts and “no” I don’t feel better after working out. How can pain, suffering and fatigue make you feel better?

However, I have learned that if I want to last for 2 hours on the tennis court and finish the match, working out must be a part of my daily routine. Even though working out is not my favorite thing to do, I will admit that I do like the benefits of working out. When I am in shape, I have more stamina, feel better and even my sleep is more restful. I know the long term benefits of working out far out weigh the pain and suffering of the moment.

In a spiritual sense, pain, suffering, trials and tribulations are God’s way of getting us in spiritual shape. If it weren’t for troubles and trials then we would become passive and spiritually lukewarm. We would grow complacent and self-absorbed to the point that we would think we didn’t need God every moment.

Ever wonder why so many people turn to God in times of suffering and trials. Over the years, many people have come to my office because of some sort of failure or trouble that had gotten them out of control. They couldn’t fix the problem, but the surprising thing is their problems had a way of pushing them back to the Lord. It came to their attention that they had been living their life in their own strength and fully self-absorbed.Trials not only push us toward the Lord but it helps us retain the spiritual territory we’ve gained, and it allows us to keep the enemy at bay. It reminds us that we need God every moment of the day.The devil’s plan is to take the fight out of us so we give up. But if we are trial-hardened we will trust God completely and look for His divine leadership in every situation.

What kind of trial are you going through right now? I encourage you to take hold of your trial by faith and believe God has allowed it for your benefit. He is using it to make you stronger and to help you have endurance in order to be victorious and finish the match. Whatever you are struggling with today, stop and ask God to show you His perspective on your problem. Look for what He may be trying to show you through this struggle.

“So we are not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making a new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 – The Message)