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Moving forward though trials persist

Apr13

   

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Trials and Temptations

     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.

    Once we grasp the truth that God has a plan for our lives, (and that hopefully happens early on) we begin to move forward in that plan. As we exercise our faith muscles, our faith increases in strength. The more mature our faith grows, the wiser we become.  The expectation is that we would move forward consistently as our faith develops. 

     Our new nature, given to us at our spiritual birth, desires to please God. Yet, we will always struggle with our old nature always wanting its way.  Trials come and trials go, but with every one our character is improved upon. 

     But what about those trials that refuse to ‘go away’? They perhaps contain the strongest of life lessons.  You know, those every day trials that prevent us from living life victoriously. 

     Trials of this nature usually involve learning how to get along with others.  Nothing we say or do brings improvement in them or the relationship. Instead of growing wiser and resolving the situation, despair sets in. Satan manipulates and deceives our flesh, our old nature. Lying to us about what is wrong and setting our focus on ourselves. 

     We are primed to become distracted by human reasoning and false assumptions. Without realizing it, we have become influenced by Satan to do his will.   We get mired down in these kinds of trials with every lie cast upon us by the enemy. We take on the attitude that nothing is going to change and spiritual growth and/or pleasing God fades into the mist. Blindness rules on both sides of the equation.

     Perhaps accepting things the way they are in these situations may be the best way to move forward through them. By moving on we leave it up to God to make changes in His timing and will. Forgiving and accepting permits us to throw off the shackles of judgement and condemnation. The liberty to breathe free is ours to claim by the power of God’s word. This sort of example, is a lifeline for those  searching for comfort in their own stubborn trials .

     So, when trials persist without bringing the desired solution, there is still a way to move forward. Moving forward is possible but it takes a mindset that requires a high level of trust in God. A trust that even though the desired solution has not been realized, our confidence that God is in control and is working out His plan remains steadfast.

 Remember: God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are higher than ours.

He ALWAYS knows what is best.

The 3 R’s of Disappointment

May25

    Recently, I experienced a huge, and I mean huge, disappointment. I missed the championship game of my grandson’s soccer team. All because I got confused on the date. My disappointment was intensified by the fact that his team won, 3 to 1. And he was instrumental in the 3 points his team scored. It was a glory moment for him, and I had missed it, unnecessarily!

   But allow me to back up to the day prior to the game. I had two important appointments on my day’s schedule. But then a chance conversation with a relative resulted in my cancelling those appointments. Therefore, I was able to attend an event of even greater importance.

    I remember commenting to my close friend, how grateful I was to God for intervening and redirecting my plans for that day. It gave me such a secure feeling to know that God was overseeing my plans. That God redirected when necessary. I also remember talking to my friend about my grandson’s championship soccer game. How proud I was of him and how I looked forward to that game. 

   Then after taking care of those appointments I had cancelled the day before, I get a call from my daughter. She called to ask me if I was coming to the game! A game that was already 30 minutes into play. We live 40 minutes away. There was no way I could make it. I was devastated (and that’s putting it mildly)! No thoughts of gratitude toward God for redirecting my plans this time!

   All it would have taken was a chance conversation earlier in the day. Or a glimpse at my phone calendar to check the date. It would have required no miracle to alert me to my misunderstanding about the date. God could have easily intervened, just like He has done the day before to reveal my mistake. But He didn’t!!!!

   My temperament has a hard time letting go of such disappointments. Negative thoughts feed on disappointments like this. I was struggling to know joy and peace in the midst of my despondency. 

  Yet, empathetic words from my friend and a phone call from my grandson helped me over the initial hurdle. Then the following Truth Thoughts 

A devotion on

Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill  you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.” NIV

And,

Psalm 94:19, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”  NIV

worked to disrupt the enemy’s manipulative scheme.  

   Finally, a fiery dart that I’m overreacting to all of this discouraged me from writing this blog post. But the Truth Thought found in

2 Corinthians 1:4, “He comfort us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” HCSB,

extinguished that fiery dart.

   My readers may not be suffering disappointment exactly as I have posted here. But the steps to prevent the enemy’s manipulation and deception in the event of disappointments are the same.

Recognize, Reject, and Replace

And that’s worth posting about!