In Your Distress
Did you know that you bring glory to God by calling upon Him when you are in distress? God promised He would deliver you if you turned to Him. You deny the Lord honor that is rightfully His every time you find yourself in difficulty and you fail to call upon Him for help! There may be times when God allows you to reach a point of need so that you can call upon Him, and thus let Him demonstrate to a watching world the difference He makes in the lives of His children. If God never allowed you to experience need, people around you might never have the opportunity to witness God's provision in the life of a Christian. If you never faced a shortfall, you might be tempted to feel self-sufficient and without any need of God in your daily life. Pride will tempt you to think that you do not need to seek God's assistance. Self-regard will seek to convince you that you can handle your dilemma through your own wisdom, resources, and hard work. Pride will also rob glory from God and seek to give it to you. Don't allow your pride to take what rightfully belongs to the Lord. Call upon your Lord and wait exclusively upon Him to rescue you. Then give Him the glory that He deserves. Self-sufficiency can greatly hinder your ability to experience God and bring Him honor. The next time you are in distress, turn to Him! - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day
The preeminent danger in the so-called health, wealth and prosperity 'gospel' is that you learn to honestly live without God.
When you really have all three of those you tend to do your own thing and your relationship with Jesus weakens.
It is when we often struggle that we draw closer to God. Certainly not when everything is going well.
In the roughest days of my life it was then that God did seriously heavy things to draw me closer to Him.
There indeed will be a day when believers will have all 3 of those great desires of health, wealth and prosperity. When we are in Heaven, with the other saints and our Savior and His Angels. The only place where we could have all 3 and not take our eyes off Jesus.
People throughout the centuries have believed that to have those 3 would mean they finally had arrived. That their earthly struggles were over. That they could then honestly enjoy life.
In God's Plan...that doesn't work.
A tree with no struggles produces weak wood. When a real storm comes it is easily uprooted and swept away. True carpenters and woodworking craftsmen look for wood that has character. That shows signs of struggle in its life as a tree.
Read this:
We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ROMANS 5:3–4 An old violin maker was much envied by fellow artisans because of the superior quality of the instruments he produced. He finally disclosed the secret of his success. He said that while the others went into the protected valleys to cut wood to make their violins, he climbed the rugged crags of a nearby mountain in order to secure trees that had become severely twisted and gnarled by storms. From these weather-beaten monarchs of the forest he then fabricated his violins—famous for their tone and beauty. He knew that the fierce trials of the mountain gales caused such trees to strengthen and toughen their fibers. It was this—their storm-tortured heart and grain—that produced the deep, colorful sound when the instrument was played. Likewise, the Lord allows sore difficulties to come into our lives that we may more fully bring forth the music of His grace when our soul-trying experiences have done their sanctifying work. - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening
We, when we live life apart from God, live a life that will never see its potential.
We, when we strive for a life free of all trouble, end up living a life that has no character.
Jesus, in His earthly ministry and life, was a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief. He knew who He was. Knew exactly what His spoken Word could do to any and all around Him. Those who were the cause of His grief and suffering could have been dropped straight into the pit of Hell if Jesus would have just given the word.
Jesus not only was aware of those who hated His guts, He was keenly aware of those around Him who were suffering through life. The very people that were subjected to the evils of the so-called Jewish leaders. Who had suffered for decades before He arrived. He saw people as they really were, not who they presented themselves as being.
He still does that with you today.
We were promised tribulations in this life.
We were promised difficulties.
We were told up front that if the world hated Jesus they would hate us too.
We were told that a man's enemies will be members of his own family.
Distress was promised. Yet let's look again at our tree. No storm lasts forever. That tree which weathered the storm always gets a respite. There's times of healing. Ecclesiastes mentions a time for everything. A time of healing is mentioned. The tree, in its peaceful times, grows deeper in the soil. It branches out in the soil far more than it does the open air above ground.
We need our roots to grow deeper in Christ both in adversity as well as in the peaceful times.
I cannot fathom the whys of the things that have happened in my life. They are for Jesus to explain to me when I have a glorified body that has a mind that can comprehend it.
But unbelievers struggle too! Yes. All mankind struggles. The question is where do you go to find strength and hope? If you look to yourself and other people and exclude God, you will come away eventually disappointed. You may find a brief respite but in time you will never be satisfied.
In our distress and despair we ought to look to the One who knew it far better and understood it far more than we will ever know. Every sin was heaped upon Him on the cross. Ever grief and sorrow from sin. Every humiliation known to man was His to endure.
You will never find one who understands more perfectly than Jesus just what it is you can't describe yourself as to what you are going through.
He makes me lay down beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He does. Jesus.
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