This post is not about giving advice. It seems as though everyone has advice (good and/or bad) at the ready to solve everyone's problems and dilemmas. This post deals with a more profound area of endeavor. This post is about taking advice.
Recently both my mother and my brother were critically ill and in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of a regional hospital. I was bouncing from bed three to bed nine, trying to keep one from knowing that the other was in critical condition. I was in a much different but critical situation. The stress was beginning to take it tole on me. My brother's wife and children were looking to me for guidance and comfort. My sister and aunt were looking to me for guidance and comfort and I was being drained of every ounce of energy, physical and spiritual, that I could muster.
I remember so many times having to counsel others in similar situations but there was no other human being who was there to counsel me in my stress and frustration. I took my own advice that I had given so many times to others. I turned to prayer and to God's Holy Word.
I turned to 1 Peter 1:5-7 which says, " who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,"
God's Magnificent Spirit spoke to my spirit, reminding me that every trial and temptation that I would encounter in this physical world was nothing more than a 'fiery trial' of my faith. The enemy will come in during these trying and stressful times and try to kill my faith. He will whisper,"Where is God now when you need Him most? Why does He not answer your prayers and do for you what He has done for all of those for whom you have prayed? Why does He leave you to suffer? Are you not a 'good' Christian?"
All of these things were there to weaken my faith, to challenge me and dishearten me. God's Spirit spoke to my spirit. " the genuineness of your faith, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." How is my fretting and worrying about the condition of my loved ones honoring and praising and bringing glory to Christ?
I began to rejoice in the opportunity to win this challenge. I began to praise God and thank Him for His strength and guidance. I began to rely on Him and to 'TRUST' His love and compassion. His plan is the ultimate and perfect plan. Whatever He was going to do would be perfect. I could literally feel the stress leave me. I could sense the enemy's frustration. I began to understand that God was most definitely in control and all I needed to do was praise Him and trust Him and not myself.
My brother passed away. He was very sick, and had been for a long time. He was a born again Christian - I led him in the prayer of salvation only a few months earlier. God's Holy Spirit guided me to realize that Carl had won the victory. He was were I want to be - in the presence of God. He was no longer suffering. He had definitely won the battle. My heart rejoiced for my brother's victory.
My mother began to recover from her 'critical' status. Several days later I was able to bring her home. I do not understand why God took my 50 year old brother and spared my eighty two year old mother who has Alzheimer's disease. I know, though, that His plan is perfect in every way. I love Him even more deeply now. He allowed me to win a victory in my faith. He made me a stronger individual because I chose to praise Him and give Him the glory for His work.
When you are faced with these fiery trials in life (and you will), trust that God knows what is best. Know that this is nothing more than a test of your faith. You will win the victory.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Christian Success Institute
This next reason is not going to be a very popular reason for many Christians - but it is a very powerful reason nonetheless - and it is all for our own good and for own benefit. The second main reason God will allow all of His own to have different kinds of adversities, trials and tribulations come our way in this life is for our own sanctification in Him.
Per the article we have titled "Sanctification," God's ultimate and highest aim for all of us is our sanctification in Him. God wants to make us more holy like He and His Son Jesus. He wants to transform us into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ. He wants to consecrate and set us apart unto Himself.
God is the Potter and we are the clay. He wants to mold, shape and transform us into godly, righteous and holy saints. But this shaping, molding and transformation process can be a very painful process at times. And at times, a certain amount of adversity and conflict is what God will use to help shape, mold and transform us.
Some of the verses I will list below are very extreme, but very powerful. In the wording of some of these verses are some very profound and powerful revelation being given to us by the Lord as to why He is allowing some of these storm clouds to come our way in the first place.
A perfect example of this type of sanctification in action has to be with some of our soldiers who are returning back home from our war in Iraq, with many of them coming back home with some very severe and serious injuries. Some have literally lost arms and legs. I just recently saw two of them interviewed on TV.
When asked if they were bitter or mad as a result of the serious injuries they both had received, both of them responded back with some incredible statements. Both of them said that the severe and serious injuries that they had sustained actually helped them to become better people.
The one girl interviewed said before she had received her serious injuries, that she was a very judgmental and critical person. They both had taken too much of their lives for granted and really did not appreciate the little things of this life. After sustaining these types of serious injuries, both of them said they are now much more appreciative of every little thing in their lives. They now no longer take their lives for granted like they used too, and they now see where their priorities should all be set at.
They now see what is most important in this life. They now have a fuller and deeper appreciation of the value and sanctity of human life, and they will never again take for granted what time they still have left down here to do something very meaningful and purposeful with their lives.
Instead of letting their serious injuries totally crush and destroy their personal lives and what little time they still have left down here, they are both using their personal trials and tribulations as a spring board to become much better people - not only for themselves, but for their families and friends, and for the goals and aspirations that they want to pursue from this point on.
Adversity has a real way of humbling you. For those who are operating in too much pride, severe adversity has a way of knocking most of it right out of you. Once you see how powerless you really are against the real severe storm clouds of this life, and that you really need God's help and guidance to make it through this life in one piece, many people can be brought completely down from their high horses with one or two good torpedo shots.
This is why God will allow a certain amount of trials and tribulations to come our way in this life. These trials and tribulations will either make you or break you in your own personal walk with the Lord. Put someone through the fires of a real testing and you will find out very quickly what they are really made of.
Some people make their greatest strides in spiritual development and personal growth in the middle of these types of severe storm clouds. There is something about severe adversity that will either cause you to spiritually grow and mature in your walk with the Lord very quickly or it will cause you to quit and throw in the towel on both Him and with what He wants to do with the rest of your life.
Here are some of the positive qualities that can literally be burned and molded into your personality as a result of going through some severe storm clouds:
Bravery
Courage
Boldness
Patience
Steadfastness
Tenacity
Perseverance
Humility
Self-control
A calmer and more peaceful heart
A kinder, softer and more caring heart
Greater empathy and compassion for others
Greater appreciation of the sanctity of life
Greater appreciation of the other people in your life
Increase your faith and trust levels in the Lord
In addition to being able to mold and burn these kinds of positive qualities into your personality, trials and tribulations can also serve to burn out some of the negative qualities that the Lord really does not want operating in your personality such as:
Pride
Haughtiness
Arrogance
Callousness
Self-centeredness
Narcissism
Self-righteousness
Hard-heartedness
Bad tempers
Mean and vengeful spirits
Verbally and physically abusive spirits
Manipulating and controlling spirits
Know-it-all attitudes
Judgmental and critical attitudes
Again, I know this is not a real popular piece of revelation being given to us by the Lord, but as you will see in the Scripture verses I will list below, this is one of the main reasons that God will allow a certain amount of adversity to come our way in this life from time to time.
Both Bobby Keating & Michael Bradley are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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