Going through trials

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

I think going through trials causes a more complete abandonment to God. Abandonment to me is acceptance of every circumstance I find myself in, whether it is pleasing or not pleasing to me.

This acceptance/abandonment is not based on the intentions of men but on the belief that God has either willed or permitted the circumstance for my great good and will work it for my good and the good of others.

In the circumstance, it may very well be that some human does not have good intentions towards me but my acceptance is not based on human intentions but on Gods intentions, which will out in the end regardless of any human intentions.

At first, I experienced my cross/trials with great peevishness. Fatalistically. In a pouting way. It was not abandonment WITH joy.

But now I am able to bear trials with some happiness because I've seen the good that has come to me from the trials.

1 Peter 1:6-7
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.
These trials show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested...so when your faith remains strong through many trials it will bring you much praise and honor and glory on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

louis · Mar 15, 2018

Stunnedbygrace said:

How many of us on this forum are experiencing trials and tribulation?
I think it is those like Job who do believe in justice, but whom the devil accusses before God having ulterior motives, who get tested and thereby experience trials and tribulation.
The devil would have no need to accuse before God they who obviously do not believe in truth, mercy, and justice; and therefore would not need to be tested through trials and tribulation for something they do not believe in.

blue_ladybug · Mar 15, 2018

EVERY ONE goes through trials and tribulations. Every person on earth. It's God's way of making us stronger and bringing us closer to Him.

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

louis said:

Well, this brings up my knowledge that it doesn't matter what anyone elses intentions are, even the intentions of satan. Think of the worst thing you can imagine - Jesus being tortured to death. Think of satans intentions. Then think of Gods' intentions. God worked for the good of all of us what satan intended for great evil. But darkness, no matter its intentions, cannot overcome the light/God. Gods intentions win out.

blue_ladybug · Mar 15, 2018

The light always overshadows the darkness. Night turns into day... The moon goes in, and the sun comes out..

And I turn into a crazy cat lady..

louis · Mar 15, 2018

blue_ladybug said:

Yes, everyone, including the faithless go through trials and tribulations; but we are talking about trials and tribulations associated for godliness's sake, and not for matters of this life.

crossnote · Mar 15, 2018

louis said:

Yes, like this...

Hebrews 12:5-11 NASB
[5] and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR faint WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; [6] For THOSE whom THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." [7] It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [9] Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. [11] All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

louis · Mar 15, 2018

Stunnedbygrace said:

You are correct that the Lord will work for the good of all the brethren.
I think the next big test in which the Lord will work for the good of all the brethren is the shakeout (Hebrews 12:26-27), not just on earth, which will shake out all the false claimers having faith in Christ, but also the shake out in heaven of the devil and his angels (Revelation 12:9).

Hebrews 12:26 [FONT=&quot]Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.[/FONT]

Revelation 12:9 [FONT=&quot]And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.[/FONT]

louis · Mar 15, 2018

crossnote said:

Yes, like this...

Hebrews 12:5-11 NASB
[5] and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR faint WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; [6] For THOSE whom THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." [7] It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [9] Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. [11] All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

I agree with your perspective; and good response.

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

The peevishness and fatalistic attitude I mentioned - it was pretty bad. Sort of like a bratty and unthankful teenager stage.

I'm recalling some of the things I said to God during that time of a few years. Things like...I'm going to just keep my mouth shut around everyone because if I recommend You to people, they'll say: oh no thanks, look what your life is like! Lost your husband, your house, your business, all your money, can't get a job. If this is how God loves you, no thanks!

And I said...You apparently don't want me to have ANYTHING in this world, so just do whatever else You're going to do to me.

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

In fact, that pretty much summed up my attitude. Waking each morning and saying: do to me whatever else Your going to do to me today.

BillG · Mar 15, 2018

Stunnedbygrace said:

Whilst I have not been what you have been through I do understand how you feel and think.

My life experience in a nutshell is

Mum fell pregnant out of wedlock, I was meant to be aborted. She did not do so was forced to marry.
A few years later we then divorced.
She treated me like a piece of crap. Beatings were harsh along with the names she called me.
Mainly when she was blind drunk (which was most of the time) but not much better when she wasn't.
Everything was my fault.
When I nearly died as a result of a burst appendix whilst on holiday at my grannies house (the distance was about 100 miles)
She did not visit me. Whilst in hospital for about 4 weeks I took a shine to a girl.
One morning when I was woke she was not in the bed opposite me.
I asked the nurse when she went home.
The nurse told me she died in the night.
I was devasted, we were both 12.
My mum threw me out when I was 14.
I was fostered by a Christan Foster family to then spend the next 5 years being sexually abused by my foster dad.
On a side note when I was about 7 my cousin sexually abused me as well.

I as a result in order to cope developed a severe by gambling addiction and alcohol problem. Even as a Christian.

I used to wake up each morning at the same time ever morning and ask God to kill me, even though I was married with 4 kids.

So here I am now typing so obviously it was not Gods plan to to kill.
I also think that is was not Gods plan for me to suffer what I did.
We suffer these things as a result of a broken sin sick world, and we ourselves have never been promised by God that we will not go through them or suffer the consequences.

You say above "God worked the good for all things when satan intended for evil"

Yes that is true but we need to look at the whole reason.
It's not to make what happened good. That is not possible (not saying you are saying this)

Romans 8:28-29

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

He works in order to conform us to the image of his Son.

As we are conformed to his image then we become more like him and walk like him.
I believe he then uses us to help others.

My mum and I have a restored relationship. She is now a Christian.
I was at my foster dad's deathbed and prayed over him and I sorted out his estate.

It didn't just happen. It was a process over 25 years.

Now I'm walking alongside others who have been and are going through what I did.

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

I don't really know what to say bill. It's awful to read what happened to you. Bad things happened to me in my life too before I met God. No good came of them. They were just bad things, end of story. (They weren't nearly as bad as what happened to you.)

Bad things have happened in my life after I met God too. But good came of them. I became a little more like my Lord through suffering them. I became more patient, more trusting, able to bear insults without reviling back, etc.

It's about all I can think to say about it.
Bless you bro.

BillG · Mar 15, 2018

I just want to add.

What I have expressed above is not to make me look good.
Trust me I don't feel good about any of it and the way I walked in it for 25 years.
The sad fact is that many well meaning christians did not help when I asked for help.
That needed dealing with as well

At the end of the day it's all about God's timing and not ours.
Truth is for me for those years I would not forgive and this included God.

For some reason I felt I was being punished by God for things I had no control over and things I could not control (gambling and addiction)

When I woke up one morning still alive a figured that there must be a reason.
So I asked why.

"I'm glad you asked that Bill" says God
"Will you now trust me?
That I did.

A lot of healing was needed, a lot of forgiving was needed.
Notice I say 'Forgiving'

It's not easy but the truth is

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
― Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve

blue_ladybug · Mar 15, 2018

Bill, you are awesome...

BillG said:

I just want to add.

What I have expressed above is not to make me look good.
Trust me I don't feel good about any of it and the way I walked in it for 25 years.
The sad fact is that many well meaning christians did not help when I asked for help.
That needed dealing with as well

At the end of the day it's all about God's timing and not ours.
Truth is for me for those years I would not forgive and this included God.

For some reason I felt I was being punished by God for things I had no control over and things I could not control (gambling and addiction)

When I woke up one morning still alive a figured that there must be a reason.
So I asked why.

"I'm glad you asked that Bill" says God
"Will you now trust me?
That I did.

A lot of healing was needed, a lot of forgiving was needed.
Notice I say 'Forgiving'

It's not easy but the truth is

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
― Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve

BillG · Mar 15, 2018

Stunnedbygrace said:

Yes it was awful.

But I genuinely believe that such awful things that happen before we come to God are carried over and affect our walk with God.

I genuinely believe that God does not just want to deal with the present but also wants to deal with the past as it really does affect our walk with him and others, whether they are Christians or not.

I am so passionate to see belivers to be set free from the past to walk in the present.
That's why I will never write another believer off. After all it took 25 years for me.
But it took one beliver who just loved me and accepted me where I was at and walked with me.

A persons past defines their future.
When a person comes to God he wants to heal and deal with the past so he can define our future.

Bless you my precious sister in Jesus.

Bill

Magenta · Mar 15, 2018

Stunnedbygrace said:

Reminds me of a staple of mine: the 3rd step prayer

Locutus · Mar 15, 2018

Trail Mix - yum..

FlSnookman7 · Mar 15, 2018

I can not express to you how much I needed to read this at this exact moment. Thank you.

Stunnedbygrace · Mar 15, 2018

Locutus said:

Share the joke with the rest of the class?

Going through trials

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