It is a writing and reflecting kind of day, in front of the fire...

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#1
Do you ever wonder if….

If only my anxieties, pain and suffering were gone, if only I were never rejected or thought of bad, if only I had no struggles, no loss, no sickness, no thorns, no this or that…

Wouldn't that be sad, and quite selfish, if it were only you exempt from hardships? Whenever I get lost in my own this or that, I remember about those who too are dealing with their own, often much worse, set of problems.

Who do we think we are, and how can we help another if we don't ourselves know the heartbreak and tribulation that comes with the blessed breaths we take?

You know as I listen and watch the hearts of those in deep heart ache, barely holding on. Ones who lost both their parents or even just one, or how about the wife who lost her husband of over 58 years? I think about the hospitals full of sick children and how about those wondering where their children are? How about those families along side the beds in Hospice, right now as I write this? How about those who don't have a home, or the fathers or mothers wondering what will become of their children now that they have been laid off? How about those who have not one other person to call their own, completely shut in and isolated...on and on are stories that break your heart.

None of us are called not to suffer.

We are called to rejoice in Him as we all share in the suffering.
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#2
Oops edit alert, none if us are called to not suffer.
 
R

RodB65

Guest
#3
Do you ever wonder if….

If only my anxieties, pain and suffering were gone, if only I were never rejected or thought of bad, if only I had no struggles, no loss, no sickness, no thorns, no this or that…

We are called to rejoice in Him as we all share in the suffering.
Had those things never happened, I probably would have never sought God.

And thorns?.. Bad as I hate them, they have their work to do.
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#4
Had those things never happened, I probably would have never sought God.

And thorns?.. Bad as I hate them, they have their work to do.
BAM!!! Sooo sooo true, it is after all it is in the the wilderness where we are wooed. And about the thorns work, again, soooo sooooo true!!!
 

DustyRhodes

Senior Member
Dec 30, 2016
2,117
599
113
#5
romans 5:1Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

I have lived this several times over and I can assure everyone that
it is true from end to end. I don't say this as a boast and certainly
not for any pity since I have never pitied myself. It truly has made
me stronger in all aspects of these relevant verses. It has brought
me closer to good than I could ever have imagined. To be sure, I
have never asked for suffering but always I trusted that the Lord
would it away. I would love to live for a hundred years but if God
called me tomorrow; no regrets.
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#7
Edit alert: none OF us are called to not suffer..

lol


Edit: Actually, you had it right in your first post. lol
I'm seriously laughing. Hahaha. Wait are you sure the not should go before the to not after? Help me, Sister.
 

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2014
70,860
9,579
113
#8
I'm seriously laughing. Hahaha. Wait are you sure the not should go before the to not after? Help me, Sister.

Well, God never said we wouldn't suffer. We can't be good witnesses if we don't suffer. :) So yes, we are not called to not suffer..
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#9
Well, God never said we wouldn't suffer. We can't be good witnesses if we don't suffer. :) So yes, we are not called to not suffer..
Leave it to not only help me with sentence structure but also paraphrase the whole point of my wordy thread very eloquently and succinctly. Nice...:D!!!
 

Solemateleft

Honor, Courage, Commitment
Jun 25, 2017
11,998
3,585
113
#11
"Painful experiences in life are not meant to cause us to suffer, but to teach us something about ourselves and to make us stronger." Melanie Moushigian Koulouris

I am strong because I've been broken
I am fearless because I've faced fear
I am wiser because of my mistakes...
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#12
"Painful experiences in life are not meant to cause us to suffer, but to teach us something about ourselves and to make us stronger." Melanie Moushigian Koulouris

I am strong because I've been broken
I am fearless because I've faced fear
I am wiser because of my mistakes...
You know, we'd do best to remember that, to know our loving God cares enough to watch us get hurt, all for our own good, all for His Glory. Often we think the hardships prove He is an unloving God, but looking at Him as you just did, points to His agape loving nature.

Romans 8:28 fits here, huh?
 

Deade

Called of God
Dec 17, 2017
16,724
10,529
113
77
Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#14
You know, we'd do best to remember that, to know our loving God cares enough to watch us get hurt, all for our own good, all for His Glory. Often we think the hardships prove He is an unloving God, but looking at Him as you just did, points to His agape loving nature.

Romans 8:28 fits here, huh?
This reminds me of another forums subject matter today. The subject was taking up our cross.

Why did Jesus command his disciples to pick up and carry their own cross.
Here this scripture should be suffice.

Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.

I always thought it was so I would be crucified with Christ.
What do you do with your cross?
Your Matt. 16:24 also says there will be self-denial as part of the cross burden. Just when we think that serving Christ, life will be a bowl of cherries; we are given verses to expect trouble.

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

1 Thess. 3:3 "That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto."

If we have hope in this life only, we are most miserable (1 Cor. 15:19). I have given up on being wealthy and pursuing my dreams in hope of my place in the Kingdom of God. :cool:
 

CharliRenee

Member
Staff member
Nov 4, 2014
6,687
7,164
113
#15
This reminds me of another forums subject matter today. The subject was taking up our cross.



Your Matt. 16:24 also says there will be self-denial as part of the cross burden. Just when we think that serving Christ, life will be a bowl of cherries; we are given verses to expect trouble.

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

1 Thess. 3:3 "That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto."

If we have hope in this life only, we are most miserable (1 Cor. 15:19). I have given up on being wealthy and pursuing my dreams in hope of my place in the Kingdom of God. :cool:
Love each of these scriptures and yes, so comforting, Brother Deadeit. It really is all about picking up the cross, huh? Now let me find that thread.
 

Deade

Called of God
Dec 17, 2017
16,724
10,529
113
77
Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#16
Love each of these scriptures and yes, so comforting, Brother Deadeit. It really is all about picking up the cross, huh? Now let me find that thread.
You won't find that thread on this Christian Chat. It was on Bible Forums .org - sorry about that. :oops:
 
Dec 9, 2018
275
352
63
53
#19
Leave it to not only help me with sentence structure but also paraphrase the whole point of my wordy thread very eloquently and succinctly. Nice...:D!!!
And of course I would have misread that and thought you said "succulently" LOL Bedtime for me, I think!! LOL .... I definitely need it! :)