Lessons From A Fiery Trial

Many of my friends or family members are going through deep valleys and exhausting trials right now. My own immediately family is just now on the tail end of a LONG trek through the valley of learning as well. Times are troubled and uncertain all around the world. It is no secret - even to the unbelieving. Life is more tiring and confusing than ever before. And it seems obvious to everyone.

Several of our friends have confided their problems to us in recent months eager for our
prayers - and our advice when their situations seem similar to our own recent past. Here is the best advice I can offer based on the very scriptures God used to speak to my heart in my own trial and the way He applied them personally to my problems at that time. These were verses I knew, but through our troubles they became so much sweeter. (I LOVE the description for the Scriptures as "the LIVING Word!")

LET GOD FORGIVE YOU.

He WANTS to forgive us. If He didn't, He wasted his humility and his blood on the cross at Calvary. Often when we are going through trials, we mess up more. Often the hurt we experience comes from facing something completely new we have never dealt with before. We are learning God's way of dealing with it AS WE GO. We know the automatic human response, but we are being conditioned to learn God's way of dealing with it - and we don't always get it right. He will correct us, but He does not WANT to "catch us" doing wrong (anymore than we glee at seeing our children falter), even after we have given our hearts to Him. The Bible clearly states that "He came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17) I think a lot of Christians trust this at the hour of salvation, only to forget it as they walk with Him. I did. He does not want us to serve Him so much out of fear as from a heart of deep gratitude for all He has done to prove His patient love for us. ("We love Him because He first loved us." I John 4:19)

ONE OF THE THINGS WE MOST OFTEN NEED FORGIVENESS OF IS OUR LACKING JOY.
THE SIN IS NOT LACKING JOY AT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IN LACKING TRUST IN OUR GOD

In almost every case, at least amongst my Christian friends, people convey a sense of guilt at losing their joy in the midst of a trial, even for a moment, even if joy is their usual response. I understand this. They want to be good witnesses and a loss of joy makes that difficult. You want to CONVEY to the world that you have something worth rejoicing in (because even in your pain you know in your heart it's true) and that's difficult when you don't SEEM to be any better for having Christ to lean on. I was the worst about this. I lacked joy when I suffered. And then I beat myself up for it worse than the unbelieving amongst me ever did.

And that was Satan's subtle way of keeping me in the mire so much longer. Guilt for ever hurting in the first place. Of course, we will have disappointments in this life. Of course, we will hurt when we are betrayed, rejected, or left lonely by the loss of a loved one. Rejoicing in these situations would not even be the appropriate response. ("To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:...A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance" Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4) But rejoicing that we can trust in God to use the situation for good, to teach us something new, is a supernatural response He gives us to show the world that He indwells in us. It is NOT natural. It is what seperates us from the lost and proves His existence personanlly. THAT JOY is our shining light because it is evidence of HIM and HIS work in our lives! But we forget THAT JOY when we forget to look away from our SITUATION and "turn our eyes upon Jesus." And we do that a lot. What I learned from all this was, don't TRY to rejoice in your situation, but instead REJOICE in God who LET you go through it not JUST BECAUSE He trusted you handle it, but because He is actually using that situation to make you more like Him! It is not only O.K., but necessary to say "this stinks!" if we are to show that God is a God for ANYONE and not just the uber-optimistic and super-spiritual of the world. But we must always follow that up with "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." (Phillipians 4:19) We must be real in our trials, but without then acknowledging our hope in God's delieverance from them, we are merely complaining. We must be faithful to praise Him, even in the midst of the battle. That shows true faith -not just praising Him in hindsight. Faith is not just pointing to fulfilled evidence. It's believing in promises not yet fulfilled. I finally began learning not just conceptually, but personally what Paul meant when He said "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content....I am instructed both to abound and to suffer need." (Phillipians 4:11b, 12b) "LEARNED" to me is the key word. You can't do it without the teaching experiences which are accomplished through the trials. We MUST endure trials. They are not the punishment for being so unlike God, but the means by which we become more like Him.

The main verse that brought this all to light was this (prophesying of Jesus): "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." (Isa. 53: 2-4)

Jesus was not ALWAYS happy! He hurt at temptations (his friends falling asleep in the garden instead of praying for Him) and cried at death (Lazerus). He even asked the Father to remove the worst situation from His life if was at all possible. And our life's goal is to be LIKE HIM. Tempted but not defeated. Human and feeling, but not governed by those feelings. Knowledgable enough in the Word to fight off lies with belief in the Truth. I cringe now when I hear the advice to "follow your heart." Because the Bible says "The heart is deceitful above ALL things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 - emphasis mine) You CAN NOT know what to believe unless you are familiar with the Word. If you don't use God's guidelines for testing truth, you will naturally fall back on "common sense," which is really nothing more than man's suppositions.

The greatest part of our sore temptations and long trials was this. It took certain parts of the Word I understood in CONCEPT and made sense of them personally, in a way that I could practice. That I could know not just in theory, but understand by exacting examples what they really mean. They were lessons that I could apply to my behavior and LIVE to truly become MORE like Him! I also learned how VERY MUCH more I still need to learn about Him. I could spend a lifetime and never touch the very outskirts of the holiness of my Savior. But I am at least off my spiritual plateau. I am at least climbing, drawing ever nearer to Him. And as long as I have my eyes on that goal - reaching Him.....as long as I keep Him in focus, it gives me drive toward a WONDERFUL goal worth reaching. I love my Lord. And as He lovingly waves His finger "come hither", I know He loves me too.

So my advice is this. Go back to the beginning - back to Salvation 101. REMEMBER He STILL forgives you. REMEMBER He STILL loves you. Hate the darkness this world sometimes produces. And love the Savior who walks through it with you. The Savior with the whole world at His feet who still CHOOSES to face the darkness sin brings JUST so He can be near You. "My bretheren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations..." (James 1:2a) "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phillipians 1:6)

And now if I may be so bold as to ask a quick prayer request. Please pray for my children to find godly friends who are able to play with them. We live in a neighborhood with few children and a long drive from town which sometimes prevents having friends over. This is a real need for all of us and has made for an exceedingly tearful day. Thank you!!