There are some things we cant just "displace"from our thoughts and to cope with such major traumas ,we are forced to take a big step beyond that,to deal with problems on a different,higher level.
the questions that inevitably come to my mind when i face these things or situations are :WHY?....WHY DID THIS HAPPEN ?.....WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?
I really wish i had answers to all these questions..the WHY questions in my life.
when i don't get answers i tend to lose heart or try to avoid the adversity completely.it is inevitable that some problem will arise.a loved one will eventually die,serious illness,financial setback,family turmoil..maybe anything.but isnt it normal to become discouraged or depressed?but giving up ,or living in constant fear ,falls far short of the joy God intends us to have.
our lives may not always be filled with happiness.we may hurt ,mourn and grieve,yet if ther is anything to a strong walk with God,those who follow Him and love Him should be able to go through life's inevitable bad circumstances without being utterly destroyed emotionally or becoming devoid of joy.
why we fail to find any strength or joy in adversity is that we lose sight of Gods perspective.read 1 peter 4:12-13 and 5:10.we shouldn't be surprised when we go through these ordeals,after we have suffered a little while though,God will use them to perfect ,to confirm ,to strengthen,and to establish us once again.read it clearly James 1:2-4
we tend to be far more concerned about circumstances than God is .we also tend to be far less concerned about character than God is.as a result ,we would gladly accept better circumstances even though it might mean much less character growth in us.God will not settle for that,He insists that we grow to be strong .
peter 5:6 "humble yourselves therefore,under the mighty hand of God,that He may exalt you at proper time."
just as quality growth is intended to follow adversity,so a few other steps are to follow that quality growth.as we grow ,we become prepared.God is a craftsman chiseling some wood off here,filling and sanding some off there,so that pieces of wood can be prepared in beauty and be functional for future use..
then comes proper time-when God offers His perfect opportunity.
GODS ADVERSITY PROCESS
1) adversity leads to quality growth
2)quality growth leads to preparedness
3)preparedness leads to opportunity
4)opportunity leads to quantity growth
5)growth leads to productivity
1 Peter 4:12 "beloved ,do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you,which comes upon you for your testing,as though some strange things were happening to you."
James 1:2 "consider it all joy ,my brethren,when you encounter various trials"
do not be depressed,frustrated or sad and discouraged.God is in control and He is working a wonderful long term plan for you.the pain experienced now will be replaced by great joy when you finally see God's result.
so that's a great picture of how we ought to face adversities -withanticipation and excitement and with an unwillingness to be defeated by them.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
defeated but not destroyed
this is my story in the wilderness days...defeated but not destroyed
1) losing job
2)losing someone
3)losing dignity and self respect
4)losing hope
..........but gaining FAITH........in God
after the loss sitting idle,cause you have no better thing to do,the mind wandering,trying to sleep,catch a movie/tv sitcom,going for a walk-anything could possibly pre-occupy your mind.
the first promise God gave to me "I WILL RESTORE"-Joel 2:25
"and I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten"
the book of Haggai 2:3 "who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?how does it look to you now?does it not seem to you like nothing?But now be strong,be strong ,all you people of the land declares the Lord,and work,for I am with you,declares the Lord Almighty."
when i saw this verse i was amazed how realistic it is ,,God has a wonderful future in store ahead....but when,how long do i have to wait GOD..i keep asking
it becomes difficult to answer people,to explain situations but then other verse popped up 2cor 6:2"in an acceptable time I heard you and in a day of salvation,I helped you"
i think i have been so dumb ,had situations which went out of my strength and control to handle and then complained why did u make me so dumb God,other people are doing so good except me.i got my answer in 1 cor 1:27 "God chose the foolish of the world to confuse the wise"so it was not by chance that i was stupid and ended up in a situation like this.Gods voice has great power to bring us out of the ruins of our past and set us on the course He has ordained for our lives.
so i asked God what should i do next..i got the answer in Phill 3 vs 13,14-"forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus."so here was the clue after all this God wanted me to look what was ahead and just erase the past.makes sense
the next thing that kept attacking my mind was how how how...how would it happen,the circumstances are so difficult,and the scripture came proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding,in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."
what an amazing way to get guidence..i said ok Lord i will trust you with all my heart.
there are periods of trust and periods of anxiety,periods of joy and periods of sorrow,periods of faith and periods of fear...after all who can understand the mysteries of the human mind.i am no different Lord
i said Lord i tried my best to sustain what u trusted me with but still i failed badly,why did you let it happen?why Lord why...and I got the reply from the scripture 1 cor 3:7-"so neither he who plants,nor he who waters is anything ,but only God ,who makes things grow.."
i didnt know what to say,i lost my job i lost hope and i lost everything that i had hoped for and above all it was so shameful to the human eye to look at my situation that i didnt even have the energy to cry or to pray or to eat or to do anything.but then God didnt leave me alone...
i desperately asked Him to give me a message and to speak to me if He had anything to say to my situation.and again there He was with His wonderful word in Zephaniah 3:19-"in every land where they were put to shame -I will give them praise and honour."
days passed and i kept pondering the scripture as i had all the time and kept praying seeking for answers,for God to speak to me ,reveal to me what plan He had for me when i found this verse psalm 32:8-:I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go,I will counsel you and watch over you"ok so i said to myself that He was not going to leave me alone,thank you God.
days passed by ,months passed by,nothing moved ....in the morning i had my time with God and at night anxiety would creep in.the thought "WHAT IF ..."God forgot about me or was too late to take cahrge of my situation,and then it would create immense fear in my heart.but then i got this beautiful verse psalm 28:14 "wait for the Lord be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord"ok so He was giving me clear indiaction each day as to why things happened and a better understanding as to how things work for God.
psalm 66:9,10 "for you God, tested us,you refined us like silver,you brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs,you let men ride over our heads,we went through fire and water but you brought us to a place of abundance"so there He again confirmed that He made us go through all this so that we could be mature and have more endurance .
God didnt promise us a rose garden but a life of suffering & hardship.what He promises is that He will never leave us alone .2 cor 4 vs 16-18"therefore do not lose heart,though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory.that for outweighs them all .so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen ,for what is seen is temporary ,but what is unseen is eternal"
eph 6-9"let us not become weary in doing good,for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"
1) losing job
2)losing someone
3)losing dignity and self respect
4)losing hope
..........but gaining FAITH........in God
after the loss sitting idle,cause you have no better thing to do,the mind wandering,trying to sleep,catch a movie/tv sitcom,going for a walk-anything could possibly pre-occupy your mind.
the first promise God gave to me "I WILL RESTORE"-Joel 2:25
"and I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten"
the book of Haggai 2:3 "who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?how does it look to you now?does it not seem to you like nothing?But now be strong,be strong ,all you people of the land declares the Lord,and work,for I am with you,declares the Lord Almighty."
when i saw this verse i was amazed how realistic it is ,,God has a wonderful future in store ahead....but when,how long do i have to wait GOD..i keep asking
it becomes difficult to answer people,to explain situations but then other verse popped up 2cor 6:2"in an acceptable time I heard you and in a day of salvation,I helped you"
i think i have been so dumb ,had situations which went out of my strength and control to handle and then complained why did u make me so dumb God,other people are doing so good except me.i got my answer in 1 cor 1:27 "God chose the foolish of the world to confuse the wise"so it was not by chance that i was stupid and ended up in a situation like this.Gods voice has great power to bring us out of the ruins of our past and set us on the course He has ordained for our lives.
so i asked God what should i do next..i got the answer in Phill 3 vs 13,14-"forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus."so here was the clue after all this God wanted me to look what was ahead and just erase the past.makes sense
the next thing that kept attacking my mind was how how how...how would it happen,the circumstances are so difficult,and the scripture came proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding,in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."
what an amazing way to get guidence..i said ok Lord i will trust you with all my heart.
there are periods of trust and periods of anxiety,periods of joy and periods of sorrow,periods of faith and periods of fear...after all who can understand the mysteries of the human mind.i am no different Lord
i said Lord i tried my best to sustain what u trusted me with but still i failed badly,why did you let it happen?why Lord why...and I got the reply from the scripture 1 cor 3:7-"so neither he who plants,nor he who waters is anything ,but only God ,who makes things grow.."
i didnt know what to say,i lost my job i lost hope and i lost everything that i had hoped for and above all it was so shameful to the human eye to look at my situation that i didnt even have the energy to cry or to pray or to eat or to do anything.but then God didnt leave me alone...
i desperately asked Him to give me a message and to speak to me if He had anything to say to my situation.and again there He was with His wonderful word in Zephaniah 3:19-"in every land where they were put to shame -I will give them praise and honour."
days passed and i kept pondering the scripture as i had all the time and kept praying seeking for answers,for God to speak to me ,reveal to me what plan He had for me when i found this verse psalm 32:8-:I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go,I will counsel you and watch over you"ok so i said to myself that He was not going to leave me alone,thank you God.
days passed by ,months passed by,nothing moved ....in the morning i had my time with God and at night anxiety would creep in.the thought "WHAT IF ..."God forgot about me or was too late to take cahrge of my situation,and then it would create immense fear in my heart.but then i got this beautiful verse psalm 28:14 "wait for the Lord be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord"ok so He was giving me clear indiaction each day as to why things happened and a better understanding as to how things work for God.
psalm 66:9,10 "for you God, tested us,you refined us like silver,you brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs,you let men ride over our heads,we went through fire and water but you brought us to a place of abundance"so there He again confirmed that He made us go through all this so that we could be mature and have more endurance .
God didnt promise us a rose garden but a life of suffering & hardship.what He promises is that He will never leave us alone .2 cor 4 vs 16-18"therefore do not lose heart,though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory.that for outweighs them all .so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen ,for what is seen is temporary ,but what is unseen is eternal"
eph 6-9"let us not become weary in doing good,for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"
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