Ladies~ Does it seem that there is no end to the trials in your life? Sometimes when trials come into our lives we can become confused, not knowing exactly what God is doing and sometimes it can become frustrating and painful. Job felt this way too… “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.” Job was confused at what God was doing in his life and his trials were severe! The only thing left for him to do was to trust God…“But he knows the way that I take when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:8-10). We cannot always see the plan, but we can always trust that God has one, a good one, and a specific one at that. Remember that God is all powerful and in total control even when we aren’t. This truth brings peace to any trial and it glorifies God when we are content to follow His leading…even when we feel in the dark. Focus is so important. Remember that God always does what is best for His children. Even in trials and affliction love is ALWAYS His motive. Proverbs 3:12 “For whom the LORD loves he corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” Sometimes people have a misconception of God when it comes to His discipline, chastening, and correction. People tend to attribute happiness, joy, blessings, prosperity, and positive looking things to God. But they tend to attribute sadness, hardships, trials, tears, hurting, and negative looking things to Satan. Like every ‘open door’ is of God and every ‘shut door’ is of Satan. The truth is that Satan uses both distress and prosperity to tempt us to sin. Even when Satan ‘gives us what we want’ it is never to bless us, it is always with the motive of getting us to sin. He has ONE agenda…to dishonor God. Because we are precious to God, and because God created us in His own image to follow, love, worship, and obey Him, Satan focuses on getting us to, follow, love, worship, and obey him instead. The truth is that God uses both, happiness, joy, blessings, prosperity, and positive things as well as sadness, hardships, trials, tears, hurting, and seemingly negative things for our good. He even monitors the temptations that Satan would bring to us, because God doesn’t allow His people to be overwhelmed or exasperated. “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1Co. 10:13). Notice that when Satan wanted to tempt Job that God specified exactly what he would allow and not; Satan does not have a ‘free for all’ in the believer’s life. This Proverb tells us that the motive of the Lord’s correction of His people is love because He delights in us as sons …‘delights’ means, ‘to be pleased and satisfied with, to accept, approve, favor, enjoy’. “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Pro. 13:24). Satan’s motive is always evil, every single temptation that he aims our way, whether it be in the form of hardship or supposed ‘blessing,’ is always for our ruin; all with the ultimate goal of dishonoring God. Never, ever, EVER, does Satan want what is best for us, or even those who follow him; he hates all of God’s creation. But God, always, continuously, constantly, every single time, whether it is in the form of hardship or blessing, He always does what is best for His children. Love is ALWAYS His motive. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:19). It is important that we view everything about God rightly. It dishonors Him when we believe things about Him that are not true. Satan works at getting us to believe lies; he is the father of lies…even ‘white’ ones. He wants us, like Eve did, to doubt Him. If we do not view God’s chastening correctly, we are apt to focus on the rod and blame Him instead of focusing on the need of the rod in our lives for our own good. The motive in God’s correction of His children is likened to a human father who loves his children. I know that parenting is a hard calling and it is tremendous blessing too; however the blessing only comes to those who love their children enough to discipline them. It is hateful and harmful to leave our children to themselves. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame” (Pro. 29:15). If we understand chastening right, we would trust God in it and praise Him for it. “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psa. 119:75). “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Psa. 51:4). God likens His discipline towards His people with that of a loving Father. Notice He didn’t choose to use the illustration of a correctional institute or a police officer; not that their discipline is bad or wrong when administered correctly. But He purposefully uses son-ship; the father/son relationship to stress the dearness and sense of belonging. “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psa. 103:13-14). God’s chastening only lasts as long as the sin or rebellion continues. Once the point has been made, the soul is repentant, the heart reached contrition, Christ likeness has been molded, and the attitude is where it belongs the ‘rod’ is set aside. That doesn’t mean that we will not have trails or hardships any more. That would imply that all of our trials and hardships are due to chastening; clearly they are not. Not all of the hard times in life are due to chastisement. Often God uses hard things in our lives to conform us to Christ’s image, increase our faith, to prune us, and to rid us of ourselves. “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Tim. 3:12). Job was an upright man who feared God; his suffering wasn’t a result of chastening. However when God is indeed chastening us and we repent of our sin; the desired end has been reached. Hebrews 12 states clearly what the goal and purpose of chastisement is: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11). The desired end is the peaceable fruit of righteousness; turning from sin and to obedience, from selfishness to faith, from idols to Jesus, from rebellion to submission, from humanism to God’s Word, from doubt to trust, and from focusing on this life and the things of this world to focusing on heaven, eternity, and spiritual things. When we humbly confess and forsake our sin it is the end of chastisement for that particular situation. The Psalmist was in heavy trials and started questioning God’s goodness, as you read this take notice in the end what turned his doubts around: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? Then I said, I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?” (Ps. 77:7-13). It is most effective to center our meditation, like the Psalmist did, on the truths of God, lest we doubt His goodness. Don’t ever yield your thoughts of God to Satan’s deception. When people resort to self-pity, anger, sullenness, resentment, self-justification, and bitterness they need to realize that they are walking in sin and not faith. Whenever you doubt the goodness of God, always remember quickly and accurately that He is always good, and that any confusion on your end is just that ... your limited and humanistic end. His thoughts are so above our own; trust that He is always up to something good, because He is (Rom. 8:28). * “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Pe. 1:6-7). The Holy Spirit providentially chooses the most appropriate time, the most accurate yet gentlest method, the most considerate and sympathetic amount, and the most efficient tools to orchestrate our lives to His glory and our good. Knowing this can bring joy and thankfulness to any trial. More biblical teaching for women - just click this link and order - christianbook/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=susan+brackley&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 12:53:56 +0000
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