Exposing us to lessons

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Romans 5: 3-4

Good Morning Beautiful,

Would you believe if someone told you that trials and tribulations in your life are not supposed to harm you? But that they are lessons to prepare you for a greater purpose?

It appears hard to believe because how are the most painful things in your life not supposed to harm you? Well, that is precisely what today’s verse is saying. We grow when we endure trials in our lives because this is God’s way of strengthening us and preparing us for the journey.

To grow and be well adapted for our seasons, God has to bring us through some things. God has to be able to point out the areas in our lives that need to change. Some of you, you may already know that we are sinful by nature. Our hearts are not as clean and pure as we may think them to be. Therefore, God has to be able to rid us of the evilness that is in our hearts.

I have heard once before, “Know your season.” Listening to this taught me that we must recognize what we are going through. So, we can know how to pray in this season of our lives. If we continue to walk blindly, not thinking that we can change or be in a place where we don’t want to change, then we can never fully move on to the next level in our lives.

Too often, we ask God, why me, but we never volunteer to ask God what’s next. What do you need from me? Or say, Lord, you have my attention. I need clarity from you concerning this issue in my life. What does it mean? We tend to assume that the enemy is always behind the trials in our lives. So, we believe that we are being punished or tormented, but more often than not, God is the one who is behind it all because of what these seasons will produce. The world cannot produce the fruit of the spirit, but only God can deliver those things within us.

Like Jacob, we tend to wrestle all night long, pleading to take the thorn out of our side, but what if we stop wrestling and ask the question, what is the thorn? We all have them; some of our thorns may be health problems, or they could be relationship problems, family problems, work problems, mental health problems, etc. We all wrestle with something because that something is what God uses to reveal himself to us. Our thorns are how God works His fruit of the spirit into us and how we find our purpose here on this earth.

One of the greatest promises in scripture is Genesis 50:20, which reads, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.” God doesn’t want us to suffer. He wants to see the good come from our circumstances, but we as believers have to be the ones to trust God and know that only He can bring us through.

I find hope in knowing that I serve a God that sees and knows everything. Nothing takes place in our lives that God hasn’t already worked up in His plan. God knows the beginning and the end of our struggle, but in the midst of it, we get the chance to have a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him.

If it weren’t for me struggling in relationships, I would have never decided to start praying for my husband. I may still be in the season of waiting, but I can attest that this journey has been testing; as I have overcome certain things, I can see why I had to go through what I did. God is preparing me to walk in my marriage season, but I had to be open to the change needed to get me there.

So know that what you are going through is not for nothing. God has a reason and a purpose, but you can not lose sight of Him. Keep your eyes on God because He is working something within you. Don’t be like the Jews and the Greeks who saw the Cross as a stumbling block (see 1 Corinthians 1:23). This trial is to produce a change in your life, so stop rejecting it and refusing to be open to Christ.

Look at it like this, the thorns in our lives are sometimes needed because we are unaware of having a wound that needs tending. We become ignorant of impending danger, and as a result, we would run into the real risk of continuing threats. If God can never point out the damaged parts of you; Then these things will continue to fester on in our lives, and as a result, our hearts are far from God because, as the Bible says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (proverbs, 4:23).

The purpose of pain is not to harm us but to bring us to a place where we realize that we need someone stronger and more powerful to bring us through. For example:

1. Hannah
   1. 1 Samuel 1:10 says, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.” Why was Hannah weeping? It was because she was barren and could not have a child. If Hannah did not experience this, then she would not have been in a place to call on the Lord as she did.
2. Job
   1. We all know that Job pretty much lost everything! And yet He could still declare that God is good by working in his life. Job 42:5 as it says, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.”
   2. Paul and Silas: were imprisoned, beaten, and shackled but discovered the power of praying and singing as a way to glorify and worship God. in Acts 16:25, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.“

If it weren’t for the different trials in each of these individuals’ lives, they would have never sought a deeper relationship with God. God has to expose us to lessons to know how to change and seek Him in our circumstances.

Reflect

1. Can you name your season?
2. What trials are evident in your life?
3. Is there an opportunity to draw closer to Christ?

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