Various Trials...

(2Corinthians 7:4) “… In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” 

What amazes me although it shouldn’t is how often we are tested on what we preach. It is refreshing and yet frustrating. Let me explain… In yesterdays post I exposed what I believe to be factual according to scripture and yet this morning the opposition I now face is almost incomprehensible. I have three computers in which to blog from and all are faulty at the same time. This I only discovered this morning. Obviously I need them to post my daily blog. I am now working with my oldest laptop and it is somewhat laborious as I keep getting error messages, nevertheless we must press on and fly the banner of truth and glorify our great King, Jesus Christ out Lord and God. We have a hope that one day we will be like Him and forever be in His glorious presence. How I long for that day! No more burden to bear; we will then enter into our rest, even so come quickly Lord Jesus! But until then let us press towards the mark of this high calling.

Without opposition in our lives, when we stand for the truth and life seems to always move in a smooth direction it should leave us questioning our stand in the Lord Jesus. I am thankful for the trials of life as they are designed to produce patience, although at times is easy to say but in reality not so easy to believe and welcome. Yet they are there for a reason! God does not allow trial in our lives without a specific purpose. We may often look to shirk the test, but the sooner we understand that it is for our benefit the better.

In fact all the Apostles teach this; “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) - Note James does not say accept the trial; he says, “Count it all joy.” There is a vast difference; we must learn to start appropriating the truth of scripture into our lives as it is for our benefit. – “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.” (1Peter 1:6-7) – And the Paul has this to say; “I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” (2Corinthians 7:4) 

 

So instead of skirting trials and afflictions we must start learning to welcome them as they are there to prepare us for the ministry, for service in whatever measure God will choose to use us. But until we begin to correctly apply scripture and in particular the trial of our faith we will be useless and not effective for our Jehovah God. When people witness a joy within us although reason would demand bitterness, people will then have to sit up and take note. Our God will be glorified!  Our sole purpose is to find obedience toward God and to exalt His name. His name will be glorified regardless whether we remain unfaithful as he cannot deny Himself. But we have (all those who have His Spirit) been afford the opportunity to find grace in time of need, it is this grace we must lose our live for, whatever the cost, it will be worth it all!

I did say we would look at God’s brilliance and highlight some of His character in and through the foolishness of men who believe themselves to be wise. God often takes the rule a man will institute and then traps him in his own ruling.

The Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt some four thousand years ago, and Pharaoh passed a law that all of the Jewish baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile River; “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live." (Exodus 1:22) – Here we have a king who looks to destroy the seed of Abraham and the way in which he sets about achieving this is by throwing the baby boys into the river. A law had been passes and as the citizens of that country it needed to be followed or you would face the penalty of breaking that law. A Levite woman then has a son, Moses is born. He should have been thrown into the river, that is what the ruler of the time had intended. Man opposing God! What I find now very interesting is the same river that was used to kill baby boys now becomes the life giver for Moses and all of Israel. If Moses had died, who then would have led the children of Israel out of Egypt? Someone else you may say, maybe! But let us stick to the facts as it was Moses whom God chose for the job. Moses was placed in the river, he may have well been in a basket, nevertheless he was as it were, “thrown into the river”. But instead of that action bringing death it brought life for so many. God’s brilliance on display! - “The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." (Exodus 2:2-6) – “When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:10) – Note: - not only had Moses’ life been spare but he now became the son of Pharaohs daughter, in other words Pharaohs adopted grandson, can we see the picture unfolding? There is much more that can be said about the account but due to time we must now rap up. This account concludes with God using Moses to bring the final plague on the Egyptians and that was all of their firstborn males were to die. The full circle is now complete; God had turn Pharaohs own judgment on him; “and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.” (Exodus 11:5) – “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.” And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. (Exodus 12:29-30)

We see the brilliance of God and how He chooses to work out His plan. What then can we learn from this? We must trust Him in and through His Word even if we don’t understand what is happen here and now. We can all relate to certain times in our lives when we have felt defeated and almost without hope, I know I have at times felt like this. God is in control and we must learn to walk by faith, if we already walk by faith let us learn to become more dependent upon our Saviour as He will see us home.

Praise the name of Jesus!

Signing off

Tyrone