"2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." From James 1
I am sure that all of you can relate to trials. They certainly are not fun. At times, they can be downright painful. Have you ever asked yourself.."Why do I have to go through this? It makes no sense to me. Will these trials ever end?"
As it says in James, trials PRODUCE something. They aren't done in vain. There's an old saying "No Pain, no gain." When you go through a trial, the Lord wants to use it to give you something in return. Sometimes it's strength, Sometimes it's healing. Sometimes it's because He is preparing you for something greater down the road.
The best way I can relate to the purposes of trails is by looking at something similar here on Earth. And in my quiet time, the Lord used my exercise and weight training programs as an example.
For example, let's say you have a goal get your body fat percentage down to 10%...and right now, you are at 23%. To get to 10%, that means you have to exercise and work out. And what does that entail? It entails cardio, working out, stretching, dieting, and having to discipline yourself to follwo thorugh. You will wake up sore. You will often times sweat profusely, wear yourself out, have to resist cravings to reach your goal. It's not exactly fun. But, all that hard work will eventually get you results. You will be trimmer, healthier, have more energy, etc.
As you can see, all the hard work that happens during a workout produces results. You put your body through pain, through hard work, but you get results. I think it's the same way when you go through trials.
I can give an example. One of the things that I have always struggled with is money. I hate spending money. And it seems, for as long as I can remember, I have had to try and surrender to God my fear of losing money. I had to get to a point where I could trust that He would take care of me, no matter what. I was constantly dealing with anxiety and fear.
last year, my apartment had gotten burglarized. I wasn't home when it happend. The burglars stole about $2500 worth of stuff, including my keyboard and my TV. My placed was completely trashed. On top of that, the deductable to cover my losses was $1000..and I didn't have that much money in my account to begin with. I was geting panicky..and having to deal with the emotional upheaval that burglary caused.
I spent time in prayer, and Lord told me something, and I'll never forget.."now you are going to see what I can do." Well, long story short,The Lord took care of me. The deductable was more than covered, and all of my stuff was replaced. All this within a week. This was a horrible trial to go through. But because of that trial, it took me one step closer to being able to trust that the Lord really was going to take care of me, and that He would provide. And I also received so much love and support during that time..it changed my life. And there have been more times since then where i had to deal with money issues, but the Lord again took care of me. Now, my money worries have decreased tremendously, and those trials have helped me to let go of those worries and fears and put my trust in God. In short, the testing of my faith has produced perseverance in that area.
----------
News! Resteasyministries.org is now online!
I jsut finished building a new website for resteasyministries. It is located at http://www.resteasyministries.org.
You will find music devotionals, audio Bible meditations, piano music, and more. :) The purpose is to allow the Lrod to bring rest to people through the tools that are available.
Blessings!
Norm
Friday, April 26, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Where To Find God
Not too long ago I was doing my quiet time and the Lord showed me something profound.
I am one that struggles with worry and fear. As a result, my mind tends to focus on those things. I'm sure alot of the reasons come from old, unhealed wounds, but I'm sure another reason is that I tend to look at the circumstances, rather than the one in control of the circumstances. I have to constantly surrender my fears to God and seek His encouragement.
One day, I came across this verse from 1 Kings 19:
"...a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The Lord asked me to draw a map. On the map, a drew a road that had three paths connected to it. You could either take those paths, or continue straight to the destination. The road represented the mind..and the paths represented the choices of the direction we could take it.
One path led to the earthquake. The earthquake represented trials that can shake your faith. Usually they are very devastating.
The second path led to the wind. The wind represented the circumstances, and how the enemy will use them to confuse you. Typically questions like "What if?" or thoughts like "You'll never get the money you need, you'll never this, you'll never that." It basically churns up all these thoughts that can really discourage you.
The third path led to the fire. The fire represents trial that we go through. As it says in James: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." But that is very often hard to do sometimes. It's like your world is being challenged and stretched, and it hurts. I know for myself, I tend to get depressed.
And finally, the raod itself led to the whisper. It is here, where God and His presence reside. And what is in God's presence? What is in a whisper? Peace. Quiet. Rest. Tranquility. Encouragement. Stregth. Hope. Joy. And faith.
You see, when we look to God, we don't look to our circumstances. We look to the one who is greater than they are. When we look to God, we use faith. Faith will beat out worry every time. It's in God's presnce you hear "Everything is going to be okay." "You will get through this, and you will grow as a result." "I am with you always."
I look at it like the eye of a hurricane. There is a strom raging all around, but in the eye, it's peaceful. Even though you are surrounded by a hurricane, in the eye, you are still. And that's where God wants us. He doesn't want us to worry. He doesn't want us to be afraid. He simply wants us. He is your Heavenly father...the best father there is.
So when things happen and you start to worry, remember this. You ahve control of where your mind goes. It does not have control of you. Focus on God...run to the whisper. That is where peace resides, and the fire, wind, and earthquakes can't touch you.
I am one that struggles with worry and fear. As a result, my mind tends to focus on those things. I'm sure alot of the reasons come from old, unhealed wounds, but I'm sure another reason is that I tend to look at the circumstances, rather than the one in control of the circumstances. I have to constantly surrender my fears to God and seek His encouragement.
One day, I came across this verse from 1 Kings 19:
"...a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The Lord asked me to draw a map. On the map, a drew a road that had three paths connected to it. You could either take those paths, or continue straight to the destination. The road represented the mind..and the paths represented the choices of the direction we could take it.
One path led to the earthquake. The earthquake represented trials that can shake your faith. Usually they are very devastating.
The second path led to the wind. The wind represented the circumstances, and how the enemy will use them to confuse you. Typically questions like "What if?" or thoughts like "You'll never get the money you need, you'll never this, you'll never that." It basically churns up all these thoughts that can really discourage you.
The third path led to the fire. The fire represents trial that we go through. As it says in James: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." But that is very often hard to do sometimes. It's like your world is being challenged and stretched, and it hurts. I know for myself, I tend to get depressed.
And finally, the raod itself led to the whisper. It is here, where God and His presence reside. And what is in God's presence? What is in a whisper? Peace. Quiet. Rest. Tranquility. Encouragement. Stregth. Hope. Joy. And faith.
You see, when we look to God, we don't look to our circumstances. We look to the one who is greater than they are. When we look to God, we use faith. Faith will beat out worry every time. It's in God's presnce you hear "Everything is going to be okay." "You will get through this, and you will grow as a result." "I am with you always."
I look at it like the eye of a hurricane. There is a strom raging all around, but in the eye, it's peaceful. Even though you are surrounded by a hurricane, in the eye, you are still. And that's where God wants us. He doesn't want us to worry. He doesn't want us to be afraid. He simply wants us. He is your Heavenly father...the best father there is.
So when things happen and you start to worry, remember this. You ahve control of where your mind goes. It does not have control of you. Focus on God...run to the whisper. That is where peace resides, and the fire, wind, and earthquakes can't touch you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)