Finding God's Path Through Your Trials by Elizabeth George

FINDING GOD’S PATH THROUGH YOUR TRIALS

Elizabeth George

Last weekend I started reading this book and I wanted to review it all week but with other things taking priority ...

The back cover makes this bold statement "Finding God's Path Through Your Trials acknowledges the hard times you face and presents practical steps for experiencing hope, joy and meaning in your journey."

This book is split into 5 Sections:

Section 1 – becoming a joyful woman

Section 2 – becoming a stable woman

Section 3 – becoming a mature woman

Section 4 – becoming a mighty woman

Section 5 – becoming an enduring woman

Becoming a Joyful Woman

Chapter 1 Accepting the Truth

In the opening chapter Elizabeth turns our attention to the book of James. James never met or talked to the people he wrote the book for. He was to communicate guidelines that would instruct Gods people in how to handle everything from a small insult to a major catastrophe.

James' book was written 15 years after the death of Christ. It has been likened to the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament because of its short, razor-sharp statements regarding godly living. James was chosen to write this book because he was the half-brother of Jesus - he would have witnessed how Jesus handled trials first hand.

In just 9 words James gets straight to the point:

"Count it all joy ... when you fall into various trials."

The word "count" means to evaluate, to consider and to account for something. It involves careful, deliberate judgment. This is something that involves the mind - faith not feelings!

Trials are part of life on this planet. If you follow James' advice - the one God prescribes, it will make all the difference in your day, in your hardships and especially in your life.

Chapter 2 Using an Easy Sorting System

“Counting”- considering, reckoning, accounting, evaluating or chalking up trials as “joy” means making a very conscious decision about each of your troubles.  You have to decide whether to count each individual difficulty as joy or to count it as sorrow.  These are the only 2 options available for your spiritual bookkeeping.

As you hold each problem up before God for his clerical assistance, you may find yourself saying to him, “Lord, this trial doesn’t look like joy and it certainly doesn’t feel like joy.  I can’t imagine how in the world this thing is ever going to turn out to be joy.  But based on your divine rules for bookkeeping, I will count this trial as joy.”

Then you obediently take pen in hand and decisively, in a wilful act, mark your trial in the “joy” column.  That’s how the decision is made to count your trial as joy, as a credit, as an asset, as income… as a positive!

This is why a daily time of sitting before God with your spiritual ledger sheet and taking each trial in hand one by one is vital.  I encourage you to have a daily time of prayer, a daily time of spiritual accounting.  A joyful woman is one who deals daily with her problems, faithfully and obediently placing her troubles in the joy column ... over and over again.  Even though tears may fall and mark the ledger sheet, the act of counting and evaluating our trials as joys makes a difference – all the difference in fact.

Example: Job.  He was godly, blameless and righteous.  He worked hard and prayed faithfully.  He was an exemplary father.  He sought to obey God on all points.  Yet his faith in God was tested with severe physical, financial and spiritual trials.  Job blazed a trail for all who are subjected to problems as he persevered through his pain.  In the end this man who declared “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (John 1 verse 21) during his trials was magnificently blessed by the Lord. (chapter 42 verse 12)

2 Corinthians 12 verse 10 clearly teaches there are many kinds of pain.  Paul announced, “Therefore I take pleasure …

… in infirmities (weaknesses)

… in reproaches (insults and ill-treatment)

… in needs (hardships and deprivations)

… in persecutions (torment)

… in distresses (difficulties and times of difficulty)

5 different types of suffering, 5 different kinds of adversity.  We are never the only ones suffering.  Suffering takes on many faces, but it is universal to humankind due to the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3 verses 1 to 7).

The good news is we can persevere through pain.  Because of the grace of God we can be strong even when suffering weakens us.

As you walk through life and its sure-to-come trials, your day and your life are benefitted and eased by the path God has designed for you to tread upon.  Pain and trouble and suffering are a path you must walk, so why not beautify and streamline it with God’s gracious joy?  As James advised, When you fall into trials, don’t fall off God’s path through them.  Instead, become a bookkeeper and “count it all joy”.

God calls you to set aside your feelings, fears and emotions and wilfully decide to count all trials as joy, no matter what they are.  Blessings stand on the other side of heeding James’ simple advice to make a conscious commitment to face your tough issues with joy … to choose to be joyful.

Persevering through trials causes us to bear fruit.  One of those fruits is the beauty of being a joyful woman … no matter what is going on or what is lacking in your life.  This is one of God’s steps to finding and staying on his path.  Handling your trials his way by evaluating them to be joy is the way to make it through your difficulties with an unexplainable contentment that brings honour and glory to him.

Chapter 3 Evaluating What's Happening

Elizabeth set her class a challenge – for one week keep a journal of your trials, how you chose to count them as joy and any results.

James gives it to us in 10 words.  He says not only are we to evaluate the contents of each trial as joy, but he adds one tiny word with a big message.  He says “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”  All joy speaks of pure joy, unmixed joy, joy to the highest – genuine joy.  We are exhorted to count each trial as nothing but joy.  A godly woman will consider her trials to be wholly joyful even in the midst of sorrow.

As a woman does her spiritual bookkeeping, carefully analyses and evaluates what’s happening in her life and wilfully places each trial in the “joy” column, so she also determines that it is wholly joy – pure joy.  She makes a decision o assess each trial as containing nothing but joy.  This evaluation is done through the eyes of faith, choosing to evaluate each terrible or trivial trial as all – and nothing but – joy.

Believe that each trial is always nothing but joy – pure joy.  View your trials through eyes of faith and believe with a heart of faith that there is not one drop or hint of anything in your trials other than pure, unreserved, genuine, 100 percent joy!

This process of evaluation is a discipline.

"Evaluating a trial as being joyful is something a Christian must discipline himself to do because joy is not the natural human response to troubles. He must make a conscious commitment to face each trial with a joyous attitude." John F MacArthur

Elizabeth lists the many miseries as found in 2 Corinthians 11 verses 23 to 27.

She states that as she thought about genuine joy – pure joy, unmixed joy, complete and total joy, sheer joy, all joy – she realised she had a tendency to count a trial to be nine-tenths joy and reserved a special one-tenth of pain for herself. Something in her enjoyed saving part of a problem for sorrow, for personal attention, for talking about with others, for self-pity, for nurturing a “martyr complex” or a “poor me” attitude, which she sometimes relished so much.  And yet here is my all-wise God, who promises me (and you!) “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore”. (Psalm 16 verse 11), instructing me in no vague terms to count my testing as all joy.

Chapter 4 Expecting Bumps, Roadblocks and Dead Ends

5 steps every person supposedly goes through after a loss or a great change or a trauma? 

1.     The first is denial, refusing to believe what has happened.

2.    Second is anger, the feeling of rage based on a frustration that cannot be satisfied.

3.    Third is bargaining, trying to make deals with God.

4.    Fourth is depression, a symptom of both prolonged anger turned inward and of guilt.

5.    And finally, fifth is acceptance.  This positive stage is experienced when one realises that what is is, it’s not going to change and it is truly real and will remain the same.

When you handle your trials God’s ways you can shortcut the first 4 reactions on this list (denial, anger, bargaining, depression) and fast forward straight to acceptance?  This is accomplished by “counting it all joy” when you fall into various trials.  When you do, you rush to the place of joyful acceptance.  “The fruit of the Spirit is … joy” (Galatians 5 verse 22) and counting your trials as joy leads to bearing the Spirit’s fruit in your life.  To “walk in the Spirit” (verse 16) through your trials, you must choose joy.

First, in the words of James, you will “fall into various trials” (James 1 verse 2).

“Fall into”.  This concept means to encounter, to meet up with, to bump into, to drop into the midst of something, to find yourself surrounded or enveloped in something.  It indicates that encountering trials is not merely a possibility but an inevitability.  In other words, trials are a certainty. They are part of daily life on earth.

Parable of Good Samaritan illustrates the meaning of falling into a trial – Luke 10 verses 30 to 37.  In this story, “a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves”.  This man was simply going about his business, moving along the road from Point A to Point B, when suddenly he “fell into” a trial and “fell among” thieves.

Trials are not punishments from God and they are not consequences of sin (although sin can lead to trials or make a situation worse).  This unsuspecting man fell into his trying situation.  He stumbled into it.  He didn’t earn it, and he didn’t deserve it.  He didn’t plan it, he didn’t want it and he didn’t pray for it.  He wasn’t crazy, and he wasn’t a masochist.  He wasn’t a fool or a martyr.  He didn’t anticipate it or see it coming.  If he had, he surely would have gone another way or done whatever he could to avoid it.  No, his trial simply presented itself.  He came around a corner and there it was.

Like this innocent man, the trials we fall into and encounter are external.  They are not a result of sin.  They are a surprise, a shock.  They are unexpected and unplanned and undeserved.  And there is never, never a good time to fall into a trial.

Trials are also turning points.  Some trials are large, life-shattering and long lasting.

Variety is the spice of trials.  James’ second word to us on discovering the solution to trials is to realise that we will “fall into various trials”.  Trials come in every sort, every size and every intensity.  We could also say we will “fall into many trials”, many kinds and many times.

The means of our trials vary as well, which emphasizes not the number but the diversity.  They are never alike.  Trials are not the same for any two people.  They are like snowflakes, each unique and different. This means you can’t compare your life situations, or your husband’s or your children’s to anyone else.

As you fall into and face your various trials – also known as bumps, roadblocks and dead ends – let these truths or steps guide you down God’s path.

Step 1: Be sure what you are encountering is not the result of some sin, shortcoming or wrong choice on your part.  There is never a place for joy when sin on your part is involved.  Be quick to confess any acts of disobedience to God if that is the case and then move on.

Step 2: Refuse to compare your trial or your suffering or your life with anyone else’s. 

Step 3: Look to God for his joy and enablement as you walk on his path through your trials.  Pray too for a genuine desire to adhere to his simple instruction to “count it all joy”. 

Step 4: Realise that God suffered.  Jesus was beaten, buffeted, betrayed, humiliated and murdered.  Yet “for the joy that was set before him (he) endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Hebrews 12 verse 2)  Jesus knew the great joy that comes from accomplishing his Father’s will.

Step 5: Know that good can come out of your problems.  Successfully enduring trials tests your faith and strengthens and matures you, causing you to be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1 verse 4),

Step 6: Don’t forget to pray.  You must pray, pray, pray about everything, at every moment, all the time – for your day and the unknown events that will come your way.

Step 7: Look to the end results.  Trials are not meant to defat you.  They are meant to be defeated.  And trials are not meant to weaken you but to make you stronger.  When you have successfully navigated your way down God’s path through each predicament, you will be stronger, more patient and better able to cope with life and its demands.  Joy will be yours as you walk with God on his path toward greater wisdom, faith and usefulness. 

Becoming a Stable Woman

Chapter 5 Looking for Blessings

Life indeed is rich and full.  There is so much to do as Christians to contribute to the people in our lives.  And doing so requires us to be “steady as she goes”.  God tells us how this happens in James 1 verse 3 “The testing of your faith produces patience.”  In other words, God uses trials to produce perseverance in you.  Trials work patience into your character.  They lead to steadfastness and develop endurance.  They breed fortitude, causing you to become a stable woman.  To put it another way the testing of your faith achieves staying power!

2 bright encouraging words from this phrase right away:

-       This is the “testing” of my faith – not the breaking of it or the crushing of it

-       There is a prize waiting for me at the end of the testing process.  It is the character quality of endurance.  God promises that the outcome to any and all testing of my faith in him will be positive

Staying power doesn’t just happen.  It’s a result of the rigors and challenges of testing.  Despite the seemingly negative process, there is a positive, life-changing message: Staying power awaits us on the other side of our trials and testing.  We can know that the testing of our faith produces patience.

What is a stable woman, a woman with staying power?  She’s one who endures whatever life brings her way.  She doesn’t crumble under pressure.  She persists.  For her there’s no stopping allowed, no bailing out.  She persists.  For her there’s no stopping allowed, no bailing out.  There’s not giving up and not giving in.  And there are no excuses.  She keeps on keeping on, staying to the end.

A stable woman is one who’s steady.  She’s not soon shaken or easily rocked.  She is a rock.  She’s constant, even-tempered, never fickle, and not wavering or fitful.  She’s steadfast and fixed.  She’s not a flake.  She is faithful and solid.

Stability and staying power possess the qualities of standing on our feet as you face the storms.

Every day has its startling deviations, its curve balls, its Plan B, and Plan C and sometimes even Plan D!

2 practices help me make it through each day.

First – focusing on the end – fixing my eye beyond the work I’m doing in the present.  I want to use my energies to make the best things happen.  I am doing the best thing when I spend my time and strength on the best causes for the best end results.

Second – recall at the end of each day all that was done and achieved.  It is easy to berate myself for what was not done and forget to give thanks to God for what was done.  I clearly see God’s grace, appreciate his enablement, recognise the wisdom he gave me along the way and celebrate the triumphant joy of leaning on him through the variety of trials I encountered.  I recount the instances when God helped me in every difficulty I face through the day.

Focus on the benefits you will experience as you look to the future – to the growth that awaits you on the other side of testing.  Paul kept his heart and eyes fixed on “pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3 verse 14.  He wrote of gain on the other side of pain:

-       “We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope.” Romans 5 verses 3 and 4

-       “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8 verse 28  

-       “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” 2 Corinthians 4 verses 17 and 18

What can you do to stay on God’s path through your personal, multifaceted ordeals?

Step 1 Face Forward

Focus ahead.  Refuse to look back at yesterday’s more carefree day ... at last year’s “best year ever” blessings ... at other people’s paths.  God has put this day in front of you, complete with its unique challenges.  Furthermore, he has already provided – and will supply moment-by-moment step-by-step all you need to live this one day his way – 2 Peter 1 verses 2 – 4.  God will be with you all the way.  James says God promises patience and endurance, that precious and priceless staying power.  Also God’s “well done, good and faithful servant” will be waiting for you at the end of each day and at the sunset of your life.

Step 2 Focus on the Positive

Watch the path carefully but don’t forget to look up.  Whatever challenges you encounter on God’s path through your day, you have his help.  The psalmist cautions us to “bless the Lord ... and forget not all his benefits” Psalm 103 verse 2.  At the end of each day recall God’s goodness and count the many positive benefits you enjoyed. 

Step 3 Focus on God’s Promises

James was thinking forward when he wrote: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1 verse 12.  And Peter too was focusing forward when he encouraged his readers to think on promised blessings – the promised “inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” 1 Peter 1 verse 4.  These promises give you strength and comfort no matter what happens to you or what trials you must endure.

As you stay near to God on his path through trials, you can count on developing a deeper relationship with him.  Just as he promised, you will

-       Know his promised love

-       Experience his promised care

-       Partake of his promised provision

-       Receive his promised provision

-       Receive his promised wisdom

-       Bask in his promised grace

-       Behold him face-to-face at your journey’s end

Step 4 Face your trials knowing God is with you.

Not only is God sovereign in all that touches your life – including trial – for he is with you every step along the path of your trials.  He will help you through each difficulty you face.  When you pass through the waters and walk through the fire he will be with you – Isaiah 43 verse 2.  When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death he will be with you – Psalm 23 verse 4.  His strength is available to you, empowering you and enabling you to stand on your feet as you face the storms.  He will help you overcome your burdens and turn them into glory.

Chapter 7 Strengthening Your Staying Power

“What’s in this for me?” we often ask as we go through a trial.

What do you think of when you hear the word “patience”?  Biting your tongue to wait for someone to finish speaking?  Count to 10 so you hold off on blasting someone?  Each of these don’t represent the kind of patience James speaks of.  He refers to something grander – endurance, steadfastness and fortitude.  Or staying power.

It means dwelling with him whether it’s in a den of lions as in Daniel chapter 6, in a fire like Daniel’s 3 friends in chapter 3, in a ship at sea during a killer storm like Paul in Acts 27 or in the trials you currently face.  In any trial it is you and God going through it.  And patience and staying power grow because you hang in there.  You see it through.  You stay there until the testing is done.  You stay until it’s over.  That’s stability.

“The testing of your faith produces patience.”  Produces is a word used in agriculture to indicate a harvest or yield.  For you and me, the harvest or produce we gain from our trials is growth in faith and trust in God, along with the blossom of patience, which translates into staying power.  Patience is a virtue that sees us through our problems and our daily lives.  And blessings upon blessing, there are many more virtues – and rewards – harvested as a result of trials, including confidence, courage, constancy and Christlikeness.

Confidence

Because God has faithfully and wisely taken me through this test multiple times there’s staying power in me.  And confidence comes with the staying power.

Courage

Courage comes from an experiential knowledge of God’s presence.  He’s truly been with you all the way ... through every trial to this point in time.  You and he have done this before ... again and again.  And he will help you do it one more time.  Those battles yet to come are where courage is needed, courage forged in the fire of trials.  “The effect of testing rightly borne is strength to bear still more and to conquer still harder battles.”

Constancy

No matter what I will become steady.  No matter what! 

What about pain?  Pain is always a test.  Pain asks of us, “Will you stay through the pain?  Will you endure this to the other side?  Will you be faithful?  Pain is only a test of your staying power.  And you stay constant through pain by staying close to Christ ... who “endured the cross” Hebrews 12 verse 2.  Could Jesus have come down off the cross?  Absolutely!  But he stayed.  He stayed there to do the Father’s will.  He stayed there to be the perfect sacrifice for sin so that people like you and me could have a relationship with God through him.  Like our Lord, we are to stay in our hard situations, in our trials, in our difficulties.  We are to stay and stay and stay some more until the test is over.

What about tiredness?  Tiredness is never an excuse.  In fact, it’s a test.  If tiredness is our excuse, we have failed the test, and we will have to go right back into the Refiner’s fire – Zechariah 13 verse 9.  We must deal with this weakness.  We must purge it from our lives.  Stable women don’t give in to tiredness.  Instead they fight it.  They remain constant and keep on keeping on ... no matter what.

What about illness?  Patient endurance means you come through even when you’re sick.  Sickness is a test.  It asks “Will you stay?  Will you be faithful? Will you endure?” Staying close to Christ and abiding in him takes us through the trial of illness.

What about unhappiness?  We are to be “faithful in all things” ... even when we’re unhappy – 1 Timothy 3 verse 11.  And that calls for staying power.  Unhappiness, sorrow and broken hearts are never pleasant.  And they are tests.  Will we persevere at our commitment?  A stable woman, married or single cannot resign.  She stays.  Resignation is passive.  It doesn’t take or require anything to resign.  Resignation is defeat.  It’s saying, “I quit”.  But perseverance and staying?  These are active.  Staying is a wilful choice.  Perseverance results in triumph.

Christlikeness

Here we stand at the ultimate benefit and reward of staying through testing to the end: We become more like Christ.  Our faith provides the conditions for other virtues to grow.  We are given an interesting command in 2 Peter 1 verses 5 – 7:

Giving all diligence, add

To your faith virtue

To virtue knowledge

To knowledge self-control

To self-control perseverance

To perseverance godliness

To godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love

In other words, a string of character qualities can and are to be added to or built on your faith in God and his Son.  These qualities are to be a chorus or production.  And faith is the starting point, the soil out of which these virtues are grown.  Without faith we are no different than unbelievers.  Both Peter and James knew believers have work to do.  We are to give of our own efforts, “giving all diligence” in cooperation with God to produce the harvest of the characteristics listed by Peter.  James reminds us that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” James 2 verse 17.  As we faithfully add to our lifestyles virtues that mirror Christ’s others will witness His shining moral qualities reflected in us and be drawn to the Source – Jesus.

There are almost always easy ways out of suffering and discomfort.  But taking the easy way doesn’t refine your character and produce endurance and patience.  Nor does it honour and glorify out Lord.  Each minute and each day as you step into a trial, remember that a stable woman stays and stays and stays.  She stays through her breaking point.  She stays though her falling apart point.  And then she stays some more.  She discovers she is tried and she is true.  She passes the test of genuine faith.  She’s the real thing!

3 steps to help you stay on God’s path through your lifetime of trials.  They will give you God’s help for every difficulty.

Step 1 Look to God

By faith believe that the grace and the aid needed in each trial will come from God.  Know and believe that he will give you the strength to persevere.  These provisions are blessings that come from him alone.  He will give you comfort in the midst of the trial and rescue you, whether in life or in death.  Always look to God in trust.

Step 2 Look to Christ

He is “the author and finisher of our faith” Hebrews 12 verse 2.  He left “an example that you should follow his steps” 1 Peter 2 verse 21.  Jesus stayed.   Sinless Jesus staying in this sinful world until his work on earth was done.  He stayed on the cross until his work of redemption of sinners was finished – John 19 verse 30.  He endured through the brutal, unjust treatment.  He stayed on course through the jeering and taunting as people yelled at him during his agony on the cross and wagged their heads in mockery of his painful movements.  He stayed.  Like your Lord you are to stay in your situation, in your trials and difficulties.  Jesus will help you persevere and triumph.  Always look to him and his example.

Step 3 Look to the reward

God is your Master Refiner and he values fire-tested faith – Zechariah 13 verse 9.  Trust in him – in his wisdom, his plan, his purposes, his presence – when you are tested.  Rejoice in his work and the harvest of virtues your trials will reap in you.  Be glad that his purification process benefits others as you become more stable and provide strength and power to people in all situations.  Be humbled that the resulting genuineness in you reflects his glory and brings praise and honour to him.

Our greatest reward is the certainty of seeing Christ, of hearing his “well done, good and faithful servant” Matthew 25 verse 21, of receiving “the crown of life the Lord has promised to those who love him” James 1 verse 12, of basking in the presence of God for eternity, enjoying “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” Psalm 16 verse 11.  Look to the reward.  As King David wrote “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” Psalm 27 verse 13.  Always set your gaze beyond your present pain and on to God’s promised prizes!

Chapter 8 Standing with the Giants of Faith 

Hebrews 11 God’s Hall of Faith

Their trials were God’s means toward his ends and his purposes for their lives – the refining and strengthening of their faith.  These were flesh-and-blood, frail sinners just like you and me.  But they are also examples of authentic faith and because they were like us, we know we can respond like they did.

Pay attention to how God helped these saints through the troubles they faced.  He will do the same for you because our God is the same “forever and ever: He will be our guide even to death.” Psalm 48 verse 14  Look beyond your trials to recognise how God will enable you to endure them, which will, in turn, produce greater faith in you.

Abel – the first martyr for truth

Abel and his brother Cain were commanded to bring a sacrifice to God, which became a test of obedience.  Abel was confirmed in his faith and passed the test by offering the sacrifice prescribed by God and acceptable to him.  Cain, however, evidenced a deficiency of faith and a lack of respect for God and his command by making an offering that differed from God’s instructions.  In the end, jealousy consumed Cain and he murdered Abel.  Abel’s faith and obedience cost him his life.  Cain could not accept or understand his failure or his brother’s success and approval in God’s eyes.

Sometimes we fail to obey God’s commands because they don’t make sense to us.  And sometimes we are less than willing to obey them for fear of unpleasant or harmful consequences.  Don’t fail the test of faith in God as Cain did.  Be fully obedient to God.  Your obedience will affirm your trust in him and strengthen your faith as you rely upon him.  Believe that with God’s gracious help you can endure any outcome or persecution from others.

Enoch – the man who pleased God

Genesis 5 verses 21 – 25.  Enoch lived during a time when the world was growing more wicked with each passing generation.  So much so that God decided to destroy the world with a great flood.  Enoch, however, didn’t cave in to the wickedness of his day.   He “walked with God”.  As a result of his faith in God and his intimate relationship with him, Enoch didn’t die.  Instead he was taken alive to heaven.

Like Enoch, you and I live in a society that is growing more wicked with each passing day.  We don’t know how much pressure and persecution Enoch endured due to his faith and belief in God, but we can relate because we face similar problems as we walk with God today.  Be strong in your faith!  Don’t let the world consume you or press you into its mould.  Don’t let anyone or anything knock you off God’s path of faithful obedience.  Follow Enoch’s example: make it your aim to be pleasing to God.

Noah – the man with a long-term commitment to obedience

God used Noah to prophesy and predict the coming of a great flood.  The world had never seen anything like what the people of that time were hearing about.  Mankind had never even experienced rain.  Yet Noah believed God’s warning and intentions and spent 120 years proclaiming the message of approaching doom and building an ark.  Can you imagine the ridicule and abuse Noah must have experienced during those years of building the first-ever boat in the middle of dry land and preaching about a coming judgment?  As with his grandfather Enoch, Noah withstood the pressures of his time.  By faith and through obedience he became an heir of righteousness.  Noah’s faith in God and his message saved him and his family, the only 8 souls who survived the great flood.

Your trust in God will always make you different from those who do not believe in him.  You will experience rejection because you believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ and in the promises of God.  I believe that to Noah, God’s command did not appear foolish.  Noah believed what God told him.  He left what was about to happen up to God as he faithfully went about doing whatever God asked ... for however long it took ... no matter what the cost. Noah seemed strange to his peers, but he, like his grandfather Enoch, found favour in God’s eyes.  Both walked with God during their lifetimes.  As you confront your trials, lean on the Lord.  Believe in his purposes and follow him, no matter what.  You can trust him for the necessary endurance to carry out his will.  That’s faith.

Abraham – the man who surrendered all

Abraham was indeed a giant of true faith!  Abraham spent 100 years roaming the earth in surrender to God’s command that he leave his home country and his kin.  Consequently, Abraham was unable to permanently settle in one place or possess the land God had promised to him and his descendants.  He also waited 25 years for the child God promised.  Yet through all his wanderings and his anxious waiting for an heir, Abraham’s faith and trust in God and his promises remained strong.

And Abraham’s tests of faith didn’t end there.  After his son Isaac was born, God tested Abraham’s faith again, asking him for yet another surrender. God asked him to offer up his only son born of Sarah as a burnt offering.  Steady as a rock Abraham took Isaac and left the next morning to do what God asked, trusting in God and his promises for him and his son. 

How did Abraham keep his faith going and growing during those difficult times? The bible says he was looking at a future hope whether it was for the Promised Land or for the promised son, even for the prospect of a resurrection if his son were killed.

Looking to God’s promise of a future hope will keep your faith strong too as you surrender by faith to God’s design for your life and wait for his deliverance in your present difficulty.  How patient is your faith?  And how long can you endure your present situation with an eye on the future?  It may be years – perhaps even 25 or more ... or even a lifetime! – before you are delivered from whatever trial you are experiencing now. But like Abraham keep surrendering when your faith is tested.  Keep trusting in a loving and caring God whose perfect will is being worked out with each passing day.  Trust in God’s timing however long it may take ... even if nothing ever changes!

Sarah – “the mother of nations” and an ancestor of Jesus

Sarah and her husband, Abraham, were asked by God to leave their homeland and travel to a far country ... where they would never have a permanent home.  And to make matters more challenging, Sarah was childless.  Being barren in the culture of her day was the worst trial that could befall a woman.  But God promised Sarah a child – whose arrival took 25 years.  Sarah’s faith was tested as she waited through each passing day of each passing year, through the decades.  For more than 9,000 nights Sarah went to bed without a child ... a child God had promised.

Sarah, having long passed child-bearing age, was delighted when God fulfilled his promise and gave her a son.  It was a miracle!  “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.  And blessing upon blessing, her son’s lineage reached down through the centuries to the also promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Look to Sarah’s example for courage and faith to rely on God for more day and night.  Then get up tomorrow and trust him again – and again .. for as many “agains” as your test of faith requires.  That’s what faith is: Trusting in the unseen God for “things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11 verse 1.

Isaac, Jacob and Joseph – three men who were blessed by their fathers concerning things to come – Hebrews 11 verses 20 to 22

These 3 men represent 3 generations of fathers who gave blessings to their sons concerning the future.  By faith each generation of men – who definitely had their share of troubles – believed in the promises of God and passed on their faith and hope as they gave benedictions to their children ... who in turn trusted in those same promises.  How sure were these men that God would fulfil his promise to give them a land of their own?  So sure that Jacob and Joseph, while living in Egypt, asked that their bones be taken to Canaan for burial.  They wanted to be buried at “home”.

How viable is your faith in the future when you experience a trial?  Is it strong enough to be seen by your children, family, friends and workmates?  Do you live out our faith and act upon it?  Do you consider your faith important enough to be verbalised to your family members?  A faith that cannot be seen and witnessed by others is questionable.  James says, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” James 2 verse 17.  A faith that is tested and affirmed in difficulty is real and alive.

Moses – the “deliverer” God used to save his people

Moses was a man who had it all for a while.  He was the adopted son of the Pharaoh of Egypt’s daughter, raised in Pharaoh’s house and educated with the children of nobility.  Yet he gave it all up and chose to identify with God’s people.  After defending a Hebrew slave, Moses escaped Egypt.  40 years later he suffered reproach and intimidation from the Egyptian Pharaoh when, as he again stood before this most powerful man in the world, he asked that God’s people the children of Israel be allowed to leave.  After many plagues sent by God through Moses, Pharaoh let the Israelites go.  But Moses’ troubles weren’t over yet.  He faced the wrath of the Pharaoh who tried to overtake Moses and the former slaves after they left Egypt.  Furthermore, for many years Moses suffered the ongoing abuse, criticism and constant murmuring of his own people as they resisted God’s leadership through him, a path that led them all into the barren wilderness for 40 years of testing.

Moses truly suffered much for identifying with God’s people.  But the bible says he suffered for the sake of the Messiah and God’s suffering people.  And the same is true for believers today.  “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” 2 Timothy 3 verse 12.  You are sure to suffer as you identify with Christ, who first suffered on our behalf.  This should be reason enough to bear up under any difficulty – knowing you are suffering alongside your Saviour and following in his footsteps.

Rahab – the prostitute who believed God was able to deliver

Rahab lived in Jericho, one of the most powerful city states o her day.  The people of the city had heard of God’s miraculous judgments on the Egyptians and others who had dared to challenge God’s people.  Yet only one woman – a prostitute – responded in faith and fearlessly gave shelter to the Hebrew spies sent to check out the conditions in Jericho, an act of treason punishable by death.  Rahab alone asked these men of Israel to save her and her family from the coming destruction.  In the end Rahab and her family were the only townspeople spared when the walls of Jericho came down.

What was the difference between Rahab and the rest of the people of Jericho?  God says it was “by faith”.  Rahab was willing to give up everything, to turn her back on her country and her pagan gods, to even risk her life to follow the true God of the Israelites.  By doing so she aided in accomplishing the purpose of God in Jericho. 

What are you willing to risk, give up and endure to follow the true God by faith?  Look to God for courage.  Trust in him.  Believe in his ability to deliver you. You can boldly travel through life and its trials with God as your ultimate guide.

Saints of power and authority – men and women who led God’s people

The people of faith cited in Hebrews 11 verse 32 were warriors, kings and prophets.  Yet they are not praised by God for their positions, strengths, abilities or nobility.  Instead God recognises them for what they accomplished by faith.  Each one of them was courageous and in turn, suffered great affliction because of obedient faith in God.

Gideon went into battle against a massive army with only 300 men ... and won

Barak along with the prophetess Deborah went to war and defeated the great general Sisera

Samson ”shut the mouths of lions”

Jephthah was empowered by God to defeat the people of Ammon

David lead the tiny nation of Israel as they “subdued kingdoms”

Samuel anointed David as king and then evidenced his faith through a life of intercessory prayer

Numerous nameless saints – people who courageously endured numerous trials

After going through a roll call of men and women of faith, the writer of Hebrews turns to generalities.  There are so many feats of trusting faith in the history of God’s people that the writer can’t name all who exhibited genuine faith – Hebrews 11 verses 33 – 38.  These nameless giants are listed by their acts of great faith.  They were tortured, mocked and scourged, put in chains, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, tempted and slain with the sword.  They went without clothing, were destitute, afflicted, tormented, were homeless and hid in dens and caves.

Hebrews 11, “God’s Hall of Faith” is quite a list.  In fact it’s staggering.  There are others – people martyred for their faith – missionaries killed for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ; Christians sent to Siberia during the days of communism because of their faith in Christ and so forth.  As chapter 11 of Hebrews ends, the writer adds that each of the heroes mentioned suffered not for a temporal reward but for “something better” verse 40.  They had faith and withstood extreme suffering by anticipating the ultimate fulfilment of the promise of the coming of Messiah.

Today when trials and tribulations come – and come they will – your faith and your resolve should be even more pronounced because Messiah came in the form of Jesus.  You have Jesus!  And now you look forward to his return!  What a glorious time that will be!

Realise that just as God was honoured by the faith and fortitude of those incredible saints of old, he will be honoured as you trust him when you suffer.

No matter what God is asking of you, no matter what the size of it, ask him to give you the grace to take even a small step of trusting obedience in whatever he requires of you.  That one small step will put you on God’s path through your trials.  There you will experience his gracious help and provision, enabling you to stand alongside his giants of genuine faith in your times of testing

Chapter 9 Crossing Over to Greatness

God’s plan for us as his children involves usefulness, which requires growth and maturity, which occurs as a result of trials and testing.  No-one desires to be immature, unable to handle new challenges and ill-equipped to be of use to others.  And we may not look forward to the trials that crop up along our way.  But how else will we learn to stay in our trials and yield to God’s instructions and plans for our growth?  Realising trials will come, accepting them with a joyful attitude, seeing them through to the end and letting God perfect us is what maturity is all about.  This is how and where maturity and usefulness is nurtured and grown.

James tells us trials will come.  But he also tells us how to approach our tests and how to successfully endure them and reap the benefits God has laid up for us on the other side of the ordeals.  James said to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” James 1 verses 22 and 23.

Think about your life and its trials for a moment.  I’m walking through life, going about the business of handling my responsibilities and lengthy to-do list.  Then something happens.  As I’m moving through my day, I come up against a trial.  It appears out of nowhere.  It isn’t expected.  There’s no warning, I am merely walking along ... and there it is.  It’s like suddenly coming up to the edge of a steam.  There it is – right in front of me, blocking my progress.  I can’t move forward with my day – or my life – without crossing the stream, without crossing through this trial.  So I have a choice to make.  I can move backward to familiar territory, forfeiting forward progress or I can dare to move right into the water right into the trial.  The latter is obviously the harder, riskier choice!

However, stepping into the water of this trial is the right choice because it’s God’s choice and his plan for my life.  He wants me to move forward and onward to the other side and go on.  He wants me to trust him and grow.  And what is on the other side of the stream? Of the trial? Victory.  Growth.  Maturity.  Strength.  Experience.  Staying power.  A greater contribution to God’s purposes and his people.

As you stand on the bank looking at the water, realise you have to cross over to find the place of greater usefulness.  And the only way over is by using the 3 stepping stones God has situated in the water – 3 stones that reveal His path through your trial.

Stepping Stone 1 – Approach each trial with joy

“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials” James 1 verse 2

Stepping Stone 2 – Be steadfast in the midst of each trial

“Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” enables you to make it through every problem to the greater usefulness and maturity that awaits you on the other side – James 1 verse 3

Stepping Stone 3 – Cooperate with God’s plan

Let each trial grow you spiritually.  Learn the lessons God makes possible in hard or trying situations.  His goal for you – His child! – is to complete you, mature you, and ensure you are fully developed.

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1 verse 4

James is telling us in the form of another command “to let” – to allow – our staying power to achieve its work.  He calls us to yield, to give place to something superior to our own comfort and place in life.  A spiritually mature woman yields to her testing.  She lets God and his trials do their work in her.

This personal yielding is similar to giving the right of way to someone else when we’re driving.  We yield right of way no matter how big or small the person or vehicle in our path.  Why?  Because the sign says to.

We also yield to those in authority over us.

In the same way James is telling us that as Christians we are to yield to God, to his testings of our faith, to his ways and to his lessons.  We are to “let patience have its perfect work”.  We are to fully cooperate with God as he builds our character.

Unfortunately, sometimes we do the opposite of letting or yielding.  In fact, I’ve thought of at least 7 ways we impede our spiritual growth and fail to grow up in the Lord.  By identifying the ones that fit your tendencies you’ll be better able to eliminate these hindrances.

1.    Resist – saying “no” to God. We fight and struggle against the test in front of us.  But God is asking us to do the opposite, to “let patience have her perfect work”, to yield to do his perfecting activity in us.  The woman growing spiritually yields to her testing.  She relaxes her protective grip and fearful concerns.  She lets her testing do its work. She submits to God and allows him to accomplish his design.  Then and only then will God’s work in and through her be accomplished.  The Old Testament prophet Jonah shows us what it’s like to resist God’s will and God’s work.  Jonah’s assignment was simple.  Take a message of judgment to the people of Assyria in its capital of Nineveh.  This assignment presented a real test for Jonah.  He knew that because God was gracious and compassionate, He would show his mercy to these people who were enemies of Jonah’s people – Jonah 4 verse.  Rather than submit to God’s plan for his life as a prophet and God’s gracious plan for the Assyrians, Jonah chose to resist.  He fled from God and from usefulness.  Jonah boarded a ship – one going in the opposite direction from Nineveh. While onboard resisting God’s command, God used drastic means to bring Jonah around.  The Lord arranged for Jonah to be swallowed by a great fish and spat out on shore .. back toward Nineveh.  He literally turned his prophet around so Jonah would cross his “river” and in trust and obedience, preach God’s message.  The result?  Jonah was incredibly useful and instrumental in causing thousands of residents of Nineveh to repent, thus escaping devastating judgment from God.  Like Jonah, we must trust God in every difficulty and every hard assignment.  We must do “the will of God from the heart” – Ephesians 6 verse 6.  He will see us through and grow us spiritually in the process.  Our obedience to step into, stay in, and see our trials through will produce a magnificent, finished piece of work.  What God graciously accomplished through us will ring his praises throughout the ages.

2.    Retreat – sometimes we fail to do God’s will by retreating from our trials.  We feel overcome by what we’re up against.  Every test is a test of faithfulness.  Sometimes all God is asking of us is to just show up!  To get where we said we’d be.  To keep the commitments we’ve made.  To follow through. A spiritually growing woman yields to her testing.  Even with fear and trembling, she steps into the stream, setting aside her fears for faith and her trembling for trust.  A woman who wants to grow in the Lord faithfully navigates the stepping stones that lead her on God’s path through her trials.  She joyfully anticipates the promised endurance and maturity that awaits her.  “It is enough! Now Lord take my life”  Does this sound like a man who confronted and defeated 850 false prophets on Mount Carmel?  Elijah had stepped across many “rivers”.  He had trusted God on countless occasions and seen God use him to perform miracle after miracle.  But now he was uttering words of discouragement and dejection – 1 Kings 18 and 19.  So what happened to cause Elijah to disintegrate?  He took his eyes off God and fixed his gaze on his latest trial – one woman Queen Jezebel and her threat on his life.  How did God get Elijah out of his depression?  He confronted Elijah with a need to return to his mission of serving him.  The Lord wanted Elijah to cross his next “river” and continue the maturing process he was working out in his life.  Elijah needed to know that God wasn’t finished with him yet.  The prophet’s ability to move forward was key to his future usefulness to God.  Like Elijah we grow weary we become overwhelmed.  Sometimes we cannot see our way out of or through a difficulty.  We think it would be better to be dead, gone, removed from the continuous suffering and heartache and harsh demands of life in this world.  We think it would be better to give up rather than keep trying to go on, putting out the effort and energy our service to God and others requires.  But God is faithful and his timing is perfect.  He knows what he is doing and how he will perfect us, strengthen us, and make us whole – with nothing lacking!

What is on the other side of your trials?

More Christlikeness

Spiritual growth

Greater knowledge of God

Deeper faith in him

Strong, sterling character

Wisdom

Experience

A heart to help others

“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” 2 Corinthians 4 verse 17

No matter what the cost or the temporary pain of your trials, God promises maturity, usefulness, and a deeper knowledge of him that can be used to help others.

Do you desire greatness? God’s blessings?  Then take care to embrace and manage the tests that come your way.  Step willingly into the river of each trial.  Cross over to greatness in service to your Lord and to others

Becoming a Mature Woman

Chapter 10 – Making Decisions that Develop Greatness

“Greatness” in the world’s eyes is power, rank and fame.  But greatness in God’s eyes entails service and usefulness to him and to others – Luke 22 verses 26 and 27.  To achieve God’s greatness, we must first overcome our tendency to sidestep his trials.

7 insights in to how we avoid trials – the first two were resist and retreat.

1.    Resent – instead of getting onboard and marching forward into the trial in front of us, we resent the roles others play in our difficulty.  Although God is absolutely sovereign in our lives, we mistakenly think others have contributed to our coming to this particular place of pain and suffering.   We can also be tempted to be irritated with God for subjecting us to this hardship.  But God has a grand plan for our trials – each and every one of them.  He wants them to help mature us and benefit his purposes.  Resentment is a growth killer.  In fact, it moves us in the opposite direction of God’s maturing process.  It can lead to sinful actions and inhibit or prevent the positive character development God desires in us.  We must put annoying people and situations and resentments aside and look full into God’s wonderful face.  We need to trust him and his will for us rather than resent those who present a problem to us.  A spiritually mature woman realises God is at work in her life through people – with all their quirks and irritations, with all their shortcomings and sinful behaviour.  Sarah, Abraham’s wife, is a sad illustration of sinful resentment.  God had promised Abraham, an heir ... yet Sarah remained childless.  What did she do?  Sarah decided to help God fulfil his promise by using a common practice of the day and offer her servant Hagar, as a substitute wife to her husband for the sole purpose of having a child.  Sarah, at least for a time, failed to trust God to fulfil his promise through her.  Sarah’s scheme worked – but with disastrous consequences.  The pregnant Hagar became haughty, which increased Sarah’s resentment, which Sarah took out on her.  In fact, her handling of her handmaiden was so harsh that the pregnant woman fled into the desert, wanting to die rather than be subjected to Sarah’s cruelty.  Hagar, however, returned because an angel of the Lord asked her to.  Soon Hagar’s child was born, and Sarah’s resentment smouldered even hotter toward her servant and grew to include the child ... and even her own husband for his part in the scheme.  Rather than trust God, stay in her trial and wait on the Lord, Sarah tried to sidestep God’s process.  As a result she ended up bitter and mean toward those closest to her.  Now contrast Sarah with a spiritually mature woman who yields to her testing.  She doesn’t resent her tests or the people involved in them.  And she doesn’t blame those people either.  She realises God is at work in her life through these “sandpaper” people.  She knows God has a goal in mind for her – that she become a whole person, steady under trials and trauma, and mature in every area of life, willing to wait for God to act on her behalf.  She takes on the attitude of Job, expressed when his family and possessions were killed and destroyed “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” Job 1 verse 21.  I don’t want to forget the best part of Sarah’s story.  It’s found on the other side of Sarah’s river of testing.  Finally Sarah got it.  She learned what only her 25 year trial of wondering and waiting could teach her.  She grew to trust God.  So much so that “by faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11 verse 11.  When life seems to be on hold, don’t resent the people, events or circumstances in your life.  Stay in your trial.  Stay joyful.  Keep your mind and heart upon God! Let him have his perfect work in you so that you will be a mature woman – strong in character and fully developed, perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

2.    Denial – have you ever denied that you had a shortcoming, a weak area, a flaw in your character?  Have you failed at something but wouldn’t admit it?  Have you denied knowing someone for fear of persecution that might result from associating with that person?  It is so easy to deny what we want to ignore.  All we have to do is quickly put our mouth on autopilot and blurt out, “No you’re wrong.”  In a few swift words we deny that we need the lessons God wants us to learn, which means we fail to enter into the stream of testing.  We choose instead to stay on the shore, stuck at our present level of development ... or lack of it.  We promptly, without prayer or contemplation, refuse to believe that God is sending us to his school to learn something that will complete and perfect and mature us.  That’s what the apostle Peter “the rock” did.  And the amazing thing is that Jesus warned Peter of his weakness ... and still Peter denied and failed.  Here’s what happened.  Jesus told Peter in straight language “Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.”  And what did Peter say to this? “Lord I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death.”  To which Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.” Luke 22 verses 31 – 34.  And that’s not the end of Peter’s testing and failures! Sure enough, Peter did deny his association with Jesus just as the Lord said he would.  Why did Peter deny knowing Jesus?  After all, the first time it was only a lowly maidservant who asked him if he knew Jesus.  Why did Peter deny his close relationship with his Saviour and Master?  This list of reasons are drawn from Luke 22 verses 45 – 60 – they show us a definite drifting off God’s path.

-       Peter slept when he should have been praying – Matthew 26 verse 40

-       Peter fought and cut off a soldier’s ear when he should have heeded Jesus’ cue and done nothing – John 18 verses 8 – 11

-       Peter deserted Jesus at his arrest and then followed him from a distance – Matthew 26 verses 55 – 56, 58

-       Peter sat among the crowd while Jesus was accused instead of standing with and supporting him – Matthew 26 verse 58

-       Peter denied Christ instead of speaking up and owning the truth about his relationship with Jesus – John 18 verses 16 – 17, 25 – 27

When others truthfully let you know of a shortcoming or warn you that a certain behaviour is sure to bring uncomfortable results, quickly take these steps:

-       Stop doing what you’re doing

-       Look at your life and what God’s word or messenger is saying

-       Listen to what God has to say to you through prayer

-       Correct your ways

If you want to make decisions that develop greatness, stay near to God.  Don’t do like Peter did and deny your faults and drift away.  Admit your shortcomings, step into the water, face the trial you’ve been avoiding and head for the other side – the side of growth and perfection.  God will go with you all the way.  He will help you triumph over your weakness.

3.    Comparison – when we meet up with difficulties the temptation is to draw a comparison between our trials and those of others.  We inaccurately say, “I’m the only one who has to go through this, to suffer this.  No one but me is facing what I’m up against.  No one else I know has this problem to this level.”  Consider this scene involving the disciples Peter and John.  Jesus questioned Peter’s love 3 times in John 21 and then told Peter “When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.  This he spoke, signifying by what death (Peter) would glorify God.”  Jesus was telling Peter he would die a painful death, but in his manner of death he would honour his commitment to him.  And what did Peter do next?  He turned around, looked at John and asked the Lord, “But Lord what about this man?”  It’s no wonder the Lord rebuked Peter saying “What is that to you? You follow me.”  Are we ever like Peter?  Our sinful nature naturally compares what we’re enduring with someone else’s life and his or her seeming lack of trials – or at least lesser ones, we are sure.  We say “But what about him?  What about her?  What about that family?  What about that situation?  What’s happening to me didn’t happen to them.  They seem to have no problems at all.  And just look at all my troubles and woes!”  But this comparison doesn’t work.  First of all, it’s not wise – 2 Corinthians 10 verse 12.  Another reason is because God works in his children’s lives in different ways and through “various” trials.  Paul mentions 5 different kinds of suffering in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9: infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions, and distresses.  Also comparing ourselves, our suffering, our trials, our circumstances, with those of others indicates we are questioning God’s wisdom and justice.  Jesus basically says what happens to others isn’t our business.  Our business is to follow him and keep our eyes on him – John 21 verse 22.  We all have miles to go on the road to spiritual maturity.  The shortest way to maturity is God’s path, which leads straight through our trials.  To reach the growth he desires for us, we must yield to our testing without questioning his choice to allow it and refuse to compare ourselves to others.  God is too wise to make a mistake and too loving to ask us to submit to trials without them being for our best good and his best plan.  God has a special set of circumstances just for you that prepares you for even greater usefulness to him.  Aren’t you glad God lets us see the end results of his work in Peter’s life? Peter eventually chose to step boldly into his unique trials of ministry.  He chose to step forward into the river in front of him.  He chose to stay in the trials until he reached the other side – to an amazing life of ministry and the ultimate joy of heaven where there is no more suffering, tears, or death.  Christian tradition indicates Peter suffered a painful death – death by crucifixion.  But he requested to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the manner his Lord had died.  Peter did not deny Christ to avoid execution!  Certain evidence of spiritual growth and maturity 

What was Peter’s path toward greater growth?  What was the developmental process?  Trials, trials, and more trials.  He went through many failures before going the distance to the other side of his tests.  But in time, as a result of this testing, he lived up to the name Jesus gave him: Peter, the rock.  Once Peter learned not to deny his weaknesses – or his Lord – and not to compare his trials with that of others, his life took on the character of rock, of granite.  He became unshakeable, unwavering and a leader of leaders in the early church.  Pray to follow in the mature Peter’s steps – to make decisions that develop greatness – and step out on God’s path through your trials and use the stepping stones he has provided for your growth and perfection.

And remember Sarah too.  Her trial was a long and trying ordeal.  Imagine 25 years – not hours or weeks but years! – of wanting something you were promised and seeing no glimmer of the assured fulfilment.  Yet Sarah stayed.  She stayed with Abraham.  She continued to follow her husband as he followed God and “went out, not knowing where he was going” Hebrews 11 verse 8.  The way was rough and definitely long, but her faith grew through the process.  When Sarah conceived and delivered the promised son, everyone knew – including Sarah – what a miraculous thing God had done.  Sarah had certainly tried doing things her own way, but God’s way came about and he was greatly glorified.

That’s what our joyful acceptance of trials along with our decision to stay in them does.  We mature and the results are praise and honour and glory to God!  Our maturity and stability is humanly impossible to get on our own because they are of God.  His doing, his plan, and his grace brought them to pass.

Let patience have its perfect work that you may be fully developed and perfectly equipped, complete and lacking nothing.  Become a tower of strength for God’s sake.  Be joyful when life is not joyful for God’s sake. Be willing to grow to the point of utmost usefulness to God and others for his sake.

What step do you need to take this minute?  Decide to accept your trials.  Ask God for his help and seal your commitment with a prayer of thanksgiving for his lovingkindness, mercy, grace, and good plan for your life.

Chapter 11 Dealing with Roadblocks

A few more attitudes – roadblocks! To consider and deal with.

Pride

Generally we want others to think the best of us, don’t we?  We want to put our best foot forward.  We want to have it all together ... or at least appear to.  We worry while we go through testing about what other people will think when they see us struggling with this situation.  We worry about what others will think when it becomes known what specific problems we’re dealing with.  We also get anxious about what we look like when we’re suffering physically.

Our solution? Clam up and avoid contact with people.  When we’re suffering physically we withdraw and stay home until our appearance is improved.  When we face certain trials we stop going to church or out in public, all the while telling ourselves we’ll resume our interaction with others, our ministry commitments, and our attendance at worship when we look better or feel better or get over this or make it through that.

When it comes to dealing with pride and remaining humble and open, the apostle Paul is a positive role model for us.  He wasn’t too proud to allow others to help as he experienced his numerous trials.  Paul wasn’t self-sufficient.  He didn’t nurture a martyr complex or have a “poor me” attitude when he suffered.

-       Paul allowed the church at Philippi to send help and money while he endured distress in prison – Philippians 4 verses 15 – 18

-       In a letter to Timothy, Paul asked him to retrieve his cloak he had left at a friends, get Mark and come to Rome to help him during his last imprisonment – 2 Timothy 4 verses 9  - 13

-       Paul accepted the hospitality and friendship of Priscilla and Aquila. He stayed in their home and worked alongside them as he stepped out in faith to minister the gospel in Ephesus in the midst of opposition.  They even risked their lives for him – Acts 18 verses 2 and 3, Romans 16 verses 3 and 4

Paul didn’t worry or wonder about what others thought of him.  In fact he announced, Yes, I am in prison, but I am the Lord’s prisoner – 2 Timothy 1 verse 8.  And he revealed an attitude of humility when he announced, “I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15 verses 9 and 10.

Like Paul, a woman dedicated to God – a woman who accepts God’s will, fully trusts in him and courageously steps into her trials – is never too proud to connect to God in her trial and asks for and accepts help from others as she yields to her testing.

Please don’t fall prey to pride.  Look to God for his purpose, His approval, His understanding, His companionship and His “well done” as you faithfully wade into the river.  Don’t worry what others think or might think.  Set your eyes on the Lord.  Lean on him.  Accept help.  Learn what he wants you to know.

What is your trial today?  And what is your need in that trial? 

Deception

Solomon the wisest man who ever lived before Christ came observed “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways.” Proverbs 14 verse 14.  He taught that those who wander away from the Lord will reap the consequences of that choice.  As a woman who desires to find and stay on God’s path through the thick and thin of life, you need to especially be on the alert for self-deception.

Do you know how we often step off God’s path and fail to follow him?  By failing to obey God’s precepts.  When we’ve given way to one sin – any sin, however small or large – we have 2 action choices.  We confess our wrongdoing, wrong choice or wrong behaviour and get back on God’s path or we deceive ourselves about the offense, refuse to consider change and put off any positive action.  We excuse ourselves by saying “It’s not that bad.  Everyone slips up once in a while.  After all as the bible says, “all have sinned.” And besides, it didn’t hurt anybody.  What’s the big deal anyway?  Our rationalisation for sin can go on and on.  Yet God’s word says: “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1 verses 8 – 10.

King David and his sexual sin with Bathsheba, another’s man’s wife.

At first glance it might be easy to excuse his behaviour.  But when you back up in the account to see what led up to this sin, you discover that David may have had a problem before he saw Bathsheba ... another kind of problem.  The bible reports “At the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab ... But David remained at Jerusalem.” 2 Samuel 11 verse 1.  Was he being lazy?  Tired?  Depressed?  Did he simply not feel like leading his people, going to war, and fulfilling his kingly responsibilities?

That was problem number 1.

And problem number 2 swiftly arrived on his first problem’s heels.  While King David remained behind, with next to nothing to do but stroll on his rooftop he saw Bathsheba bathing.  In David we witness how one sin, left unchecked and unacknowledged, can lead to the next sin, which can lead to the next and the next.  David stayed behind, saw a married woman, asked about her, sent for her, slept with her, arranged for her husband’s murder and then hid the crime.  David looked.  David lusted.  David planned and executed adultery and a murder.

After these monstrous acts, he deceived himself for almost a year, covering up his many sins.  He committed sin upon sin upon sin, adding layer upon layer upon layer to his original sin.  His first deception led to plotting, which led to murder, which led to lying.

It’s tempting to deceive ourselves into accepting unbiblical conduct by saying, “It’s okay” or “It’s not so bad” instead of being mature, putting on the brakes, and doing the right thing.  Obedience is a sign of a follower of Christ.  When we fail to follow His instructions and principles, God provides a way for us to return to his path.  What are we to do?  We are to pray, to admit our failure to follow God and to agree with God about our sinfulness.  Then his wonderful forgiveness is ours. 

This is how you get right back on God’s path.  And prayer, sweet prayer ... also keeps you there! When you take your problems and trials to your heavenly Father, he is faithful to help you resist and triumph over greed, jealousy, strife, self-confidence, temptation, laziness, lies ... and the whole list of sins we are so prone to commit.  God is willing and able to keep you on his path, right alongside him, as you enter, endure and exit your trials.  And what awaits you on the other side?

-       New depth of character

-       A better understanding of God

-       Greater resistance to sin (thanks be to his grace!)

-       A more intimate identity with Christ

-       A more positive approach to and anticipation of the future.

This is spiritual maturity, a maturity that makes you more productive and useful to the Lord and to others.  The ultimate test of life is usefulness, so be sure to deal with any and all roadblocks that hinder your progress.

Now let’s make a 180 degree turn.  Let’s let go of our fears ad doubts about our trials and go with God’s plan.

God wants us to surrender to our trials, to submit to them with no resistance whatsoever.  He wants us to allow him to work in us.  All we have to do is bend ... just bend  we’re not going to break.  Really  God’s goal is not to break us but to make us into more mature Christians – useful and stable.  So accept his trials.  He’s not asking you to give up.  Just give in to the tests he brings and take the steps he’s asking of you.  The grace he promises to give will come as you move forward in obedience.

We need to yield to the testing God brings to help us mature.  We need to defer to him.  Deferring is “yielding or submitting in recognition of another’s authority.”  The definition goes on “yielding or submitting in recognition of another’s authority or superior knowledge.”

If you want to grow spiritually, roadblocks must be removed.  Take this first step: Yield to God.  Heave a sigh of relief and a sigh of release.  Embrace the testing God brings into your life. 

And here’s a second step: Know that the testing of your faith works patience.  Stay in your trials and “let patience have its perfect work”.  The only positive way out of a trial is through it.  So be done with manipulation and doing things your way by getting into and out of things such as commitments and responsibilities.

The third step?  Stay in the trial because you desire what’s on the other side.  One reason for staying is to see that a thorough work is accomplished ... and that requires all-the-way-to-the-end perseverance.

 Chapter 12 Experiencing God’s Power and Perfection

We can read God’s word, go to bible studies, memorise scriptures, attend church and Sunday School but until we actually face trials, we will not have the opportunity to use the faith and trust in God we’re developing through these spiritual activities.  Without experience we won’t know how to best use the knowledge we’re accumulating.  We won’t have the opportunity to develop staying power and spiritual maturity.

God works through trials in our lives to “perfect” and mature us. 

It’s truly amazing to notice how God breaks us out of what we are comfortable with and moves us beyond our current state.  He uses trials and tests to help us face and overcome challenges so we can do even greater feats for him.  These lessons don’t come easily or cheaply.  They develop and require fortitude, trust in God and endurance until growth takes place.  Then we have a better understanding of God’s power and how to use it and count on it in future trials.

In the lions’ den.  Daniel was an Israelite who was taken captive to Babylon.  He was gifted and soon gained the king’s trust and favour.  In time, the court officials burned with envy and plotted to destroy the young Israelite.  The end result was that David was sealed into a den of lions to be killed and eaten.

But Daniel trusted God.  He knew God would not abandon him.  In the lions’ den Daniel witnessed the power of God and the presence of one of God’s angels!  As Daniel later explained to the king “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before him.” Daniel 6 verse 22

And so the miracle occurred.  Daniel lived untouched and unharmed, God was glorified and worship took place. The king himself wrote to the people “The God of Daniel ... is the living God and steadfast forever ... and he works signs and wonders and has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions’.  As Daniel endured and stayed though his ordeal in the lions’ den, unbelievers witnessed God’s power.  Daniel’s faith in God was further strengthened and he went onto to receive some of the greatest revelations of future events ever given by God to any person.

In the fire.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 3 of Daniel’s friends were tried by fire.  They were thrown into a furnace for refusing to bow and worship a gold image, as the king had commanded – Daniel 3 verses 1 – 19.  These 3 men willingly accepted their trial and then experienced the power of God and the presence of God through a fourth “man” who appeared in the fire with them.  The king described this “man” “like the Son of God”.  This figure is believed by most scholars to have been the pre-incarnate Christ.

And the results of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s time in the fire?  God was glorified and witnessed!  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the furnace untouched.  Their faith was strengthened by God’s powerful ability to deliver them.  And the miracle was witnessed and proclaimed by the king to the people “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him.  There is no other God who can deliver like this.”  Afterwards these 3 Israelites were given positions of importance and continued to be a living testimony to a living God.

On the altar.  After 25 years of waiting, Abraham finally had a son by Sarah.  But Abraham’s testing was definitely not over.  After some years, God asked his servant, Abraham, to offer his son Isaac on the altar as a burnt offering to him  What a test!  But Abraham stepped into the waters of this test, took his son to the prescribed spot, bound him and placed him on an altar.

As Abraham followed through and lifted the knife to slay his son, a miracle occurred ... but not until the last possible second!  God spoke out of heaven and commanded Abraham not to kill his son.  Next he provided a sacrifice – a ram tangled in a nearby bush – Genesis 22 verses 2 – 14.

Yes, the wonderful miracle occurred – in Isaac’s life and Abraham’s.  God is faithful to his people – including us!  He uses his power to take us through – or get us out of! – our trials.  Abraham’s faith never budged.  He passed the test.

Abraham stands as a role model for us to persevere and follow God’s leading.  He was a model of genuine faith.  He is called “the father of all those who believe” Romans 4 verse 11.

On the cross.  And then we have the supreme example of Christ staying on the cross. A sinless man and the Son of God, Jesus fully bore the penalty of our sins on the cross.  The sin of the world and the lies and treachery of people put him there.  But he chose to stay.  He endures.  Many, many miracles transpired as a result of his obedience to God; the miracle of darkness at noon, the miracle of the curtain in the temple being torn from top to bottom; the miracle of the dead rising, the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection and especially the miracle of redemption and salvation for us.  He stayed on the cross even when taunted by “he saved others; himself he cannot save.  If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross.” Matthew 27 verse 42  We know that as God, Jesus Christ most definitely could have come, but he persevered, thus fulfilling God’s desire for our redemption.  He did the Father’s will, fully trusting in him, committing himself to the God who judges righteously – 1 Peter 2 verse 23.

In all these instances the people being tested stayed and miracles occurred.  Also in these situations, God was glorified.  And in every incident faith was matured because God did the miracles and everyone knew he did them.  It was clearly God to the rescue!  God with the solutions!  It was 100 percent him and not the skills, knowledge, abilities, smooth talking and clever manipulations of humans that ended these tests.  Those involved only had to do 3 things: step into their test, stay in their test and wait on and trust in God.

When a trial arrives stay in it.  At the end of your trial or testing, you will know God more intimately, your faith will be strengthened and your Christian character will be sterling.  Greater maturity and more ministry await you, along with stronger endurance.  The blessings are countless!

How long can you stay in a trial?  Walking through the Old Testament, we see that ...

Noah, by faith, preached for 120 years while he was building the ark.  How long would you stay faithful and continue to articulate God’s truth to people who disdained you and wrote you off as a nut?

Abraham, who lived 170 years, was sent out by God to search for a city.  Abraham obeyed, not knowing where he was going ... and died in faith, never having received the promise, never even seeing the city he searched for.  How long would you have searched?

Leah, who was plain-looking and her beautiful sister, Rachel, were married to the same man, Jacob.  But the bible says Jacob loved Rachel.  How long would you stay in a loveless marriage?  Dear Leah stayed ... and in the end was blessed by being the mother of 6 sons who eventually represented 6 of the 12 tribes of Israel.  She grew in maturity and reaped her rewards for staying.

Ruth too was a woman who stayed – not in a place, but with a person – with her bitter mother-in-law.  Naomi whose name means “pleasant” told the people “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara” which means “bitter”.  Ruth left her family, her home and everything else to follow Naomi to her homeland, staying by her anguished mother-in-law’s side.  And the outcome?  She married a godly man and bore a son who was in the line of the Messiah.

Abigail stayed in an unpleasant marriage.  She was married to a foolish, alcoholic man and spent her married life righting his wrongs and their disastrous consequences.  The results of her faithfulness, stability, wisdom and maturity gained from remaining in her situation?  She married King David after her husband's death.

And more recently ...

Susanna Wesley was in a challenging and difficult marriage.  We discover she persevered and did her best.  Her gifts had to shine through the clouded window of her marriage.  She used her strong leadership talents in training well-educated and disciplined children, including John and Charles Wesley.  Susanna could say with assurance “None knows what they can bear until they are tried.”  Rather than succumb to despair, this woman of faith put her energies into raising a house full of well-behaved, spiritually sensitive children.  She honoured her husband’s strengths and she forgave him his faults, year after difficult year.  In addition to her rigorous home duties, this talented lady took on other projects that brought fulfilment to her life. She wrote 3 religious books for children and her home became a centre of encouragement and spiritual ministry in the community.  Though her world was small and its walls may have seemed high, she flourished in its confines.

Susanna Wesley stayed ... and she bore much fruit.

Staying, staying, staying.  There is no other way to go through God’s tests, witness his power, experience his perfection and partake of his blessings of greater growth and contribution.  After much study on the 3 terms or results of God’s testing – “perfect, entire, lacking nothing” – I realised they are basically the same. There are some variations but the point is that maturity and usefulness are the overarching outcomes of trials endured and seen through to the end.  Through trials and testing we become ...

“perfect”.  An Old Testament sacrifice had to be a perfect animal – one that was fit to be sacrificed to God; no blemishes, broken bones, maiming, blindness, disease or anything lacking in its parts – Leviticus 22

“entire” or whole or complete or fully developed.  To be so requires perfection in all the parts or portions with no defects, no missing parts.

“lacking in nothing”.  To be so means wanting to be without any defect and deficient in nothing.

When times get tough, talk to God. Share your thoughts and feelings with him.  He will understand.  He won’t get upset.  And he will give you the strength you need to continue.

What does it take to stay? 

Step 1: Approach each trial with a joyful attitude

“Count it all joy”.  If you can face and conquer this hurdle, you will be walking through your trial by the Holy Spirit.

Step 2: Remember God’s power

When your trial gets harder and the steps grow steeper, you struggle.  Remind yourself “is anything too hard for the Lord?” and remember the answer “Ah Lord God!  Behold you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arms.  There is nothing too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32 verse 17

Step 3: Pray

Prayer keeps you looking to God, who has promised that he will finish what he’s started.  Wonderful!  We can be “confident of this very thing, that he who begun a good work in you will complete it" Philippians 1 verse 6.  Prayer also keeps you looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith – Hebrews 12 verse 2.  He endured the cross, and you can’t be looking at God and looking at Jesus and not experience the victory of endurance in your trial.

Step 4: Sit quietly

Yield.  Let God work in you.  “All right Lord.  What do you want?  What is the lesson here?  What would you have me do, think, say, be?”  Sit quietly in God’s presence and allow him to answer and help you stay in your trial clear through to the end.

Step 5: Focus on God’s promises

To begin this step, take 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 to heart.  Here God promises that if your trial or situation becomes more than you can bear, he will provide a way of escape so you can bear it.  He won’t give you more than you can handle.

Section 4 Becoming a Mighty Woman

Chapter 13 – Finding Strength in God’s Grace

So far we have learned that trials are a reality of everyday life.  But, praise God, we can be joyful in them.  In addition, we know that 2 grand qualities – stability and endurance – result from tests of faith.  And we’ve grasped that tests lead to spiritual and personal maturity and usefulness that cannot be gained any other way.  So why don’t we always treasure trials?  Welcome them?  Embrace them?  To put it bluntly, trials are often painful and usually frustrating.

Let’s look at 3 avoidance responses to trials: escape, explain and exit,

Escape

We’re often willing to do almost anything to keep going through a trial.  No one wants to suffer.  And no one wants to endure difficult situations.  So we try to sidestep or get out of trials.  Jonah – how did he react when asked by God to take a message of redemption to the people in Ninevah  - he tried to escape by heading in the opposite direction ... away from Ninevah – Jonah 1 verses 1 – 3.

Explain

When the road gets rough and the going gets tough, it’s natural to start asking God “Why, why, oh why, did this have to happen to me?”  Job was guilty of this reaction as he tried to explain to his friends – and to God! – why he didn’t deserve to be in his condition of pain and suffering – Job 29 – 31.

Rather than questioning and asking for an explanation from God, we can accept what is happening to us because we know it is for a good cause, look to God for strength and endure to the end.

Exit

When in pain, the first thing we want to do is get out of it ... and the sooner the better!  This response can lead us to lie, manipulate, drop out, avoid certain people ... anything to exit the painful experience.  Abraham was guilty of this response as he left the land God had promised him to travel to Egypt during a famine.  And what did he do in Egypt?  He lied about who his wife was and tried to manipulate his situation to avoid trials – Genesis 12 verses 10 – 13.

Yet Christ our Saviour willingly endured the pain of the cross and separation from God.  We can endure our trials too.  By God’s grace and with his help, we can continue on his path through our trials and grow in the areas he knows are lacking.

So what responses should we have when we encounter a trial?

Be joyful – this is a choice not an emotion! 

Believe – this is also a decision we make

Bend – there’s one more decisive action we can take.  We can think, have thine own way Lord! Help yourself to my life.  Teach me.  Grow me.  Use me.

2 Corinthians 12 verse 9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul was God’s servant, but the believers in Corinth were questioning his sincerity and authenticity as an apostle.  Therefore Paul wrote to defend and prove himself to his opponents.  In doing so, he basically said, “Well there is one really big thing I could brag about if needed to.”  Then Paul described a vision he was allowed to see and hear when he was miraculously “caught up to heaven”.  It was indeed glorious but Paul explains that because he could have been exalted by others and filled with personal pride due to this supernatural experience, “a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

We don’t know exactly what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but it was probably painful or frustrating.  And how did Paul handle this?  He did what we would have done – he prayed.  He asked God 3 times to take away the exasperating problem.  But God’s way of answering Paul’s prayers was not by removing the pressure.  Instead, God increased Paul’s strength to bear it!

And how did Paul’s story of pain and suffering end?  He spells out how the Lord spoke words of encouragement to him so he could stay in his hardship and keep on serving Christ and his followers – 2 Corinthians 12 verses 9 and 10.

Paul had a problem – a thorn in his flesh.  It was a trial.  And whatever it was, it hurt or bothered him so much that he referred to it as a literal “stake”.  He felt like he was impaled on a sharpened pole.  Furthermore, the source of that thorn in his flesh was Satan.  But Paul knew to look on both sides of the coin: he saw one side – Satan’s image – but he also turned the coin of pain and suffering over to see the impression of God, the imprint of the one who permitted the trial ... and promised to see him through it.

And the purpose of the trial?  Paul repeats it twice: it was sent as a guard against pride, which would have been a detriment to his personal life, his ministry, and his relationship with God.

From 2 Corinthians 12 verses 7 – 10 there are a few things about enduring trials and continuing on God’s path through every trial.

First, God’s grace is sufficient, meaning it is enough.  His grace is all you need in any and all trials.  And it is not only all you need, it is also what you need.  It is a treasure of various kinds and various colours from which you may obtain the materials that will match any circumstance and repair any disaster into which you’ve fallen.  And it will be there, when you need it.  God never delays, but he also is never hurried.  His grace will take you to – and through  the stretching point, the breaking point, the giving-up and giving-in point and the falling-apart point.  He sometimes waits for the moment of extreme pressure ... and then gloriously, as promised, steps in with what you need when you need it.

Second, God’s power dwells in you.  His grace is the source of your might.  Through the power of God’s grace you become a mighty woman, one who can face, handle, and endure whatever happens.

And here’s another truth: God gives as much of his marvellous grace as you require.  He gives it abundantly.

When it comes to God’s sufficiency and God’s grace, we don’t need to worry or wonder or try to peek around the corners to see if his grace is going to be there when we face a difficulty.  Why?  Because it’s already there!  God’s grace will be all you need, will be what you need, will be as much as you need, will be complete.

God’s grace was sufficient for Daniel in the lions’ den and for his 3 friends in that furnace.  For Hannah too as she handed over her only child, her little Samuel, to Eli.  Also for Sarah and Elizabeth as they remained barren into their senior years.  As well as for Esther and Eunice, who lived with unbelieving husbands.  For Leah as she was locked in a loveless marriage.  For Priscilla as she and her husband were driven from their home.  For Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she watched her son – our Messiah and Saviour – die.

Each of these people found the strength and might in God’s grace that was needed for their trials ...

... and the same will be true for you.

Trials may differ but they come in all shapes and sizes.  But God never does.  He is unchanging.  And his grace is always available and granted to his children as they struggle under their burdens

Chapter 14 Counting on God’s Power

“Weakness always appeals to our sympathy.  Ask the careful mother which child receives the greatest share of her thoughts and attention.  It is not the one who is strong, and able to take care of himself, but the sickly and weak one, that is pressed closest to the mother’s heart.”

God doesn’t promise us a carefree life.  But he does hold those who are hurting close to his heart.  Ever merciful, his eyes and ears are always open to his needy loved ones – 1 Peter 3 verse 12.  Ever giving, God blesses his weak children with the priceless gifts of his own strength and power.

Jesus spoke this assurance to his faithful – and suffering – servant Paul.  The apostle Paul was one of God’s mightiest spokesmen, yet he became weakened by some affliction or difficulty.  After praying fervently for the removal of his “thorn in the flesh” Paul received God’s answer.  Rather than take away Paul’s cause of pain, our all-wise, compassionate God elected to give him something far better than smooth sailing. He chose to provide Paul’s cause of pain, our all wise, compassionate God elected to give him something far better than smooth sailing.  He chose to provide Paul with all the strength he would ever need to endure his immediate agony ... and make it through to the other side.  And God promised Paul – and us! – all the strength he would ever need to endure and triumph over all the suffering, hardships and trials we endure, God imparted his might to Paul to fortify him while he suffered.

It is clear that God closed the door on a pain-free and trouble-free life for Paul.  Instead he granted him his all-sufficient grace for every minute and every need in his life.  Instead of sending help through other means, the Lord showered his servant with his great and marvellous grace!  Paul would have something better than a breezy existence: he would have all he ever needed from God to face all that he encountered so he would mature spiritually.  In his weakness Paul had God’s power to endure, more forward, and triumph.  Instead of taking away Paul’s problem, Christ blessed Paul with grace to get through it.

The result? Paul gained something significantly better than temporary relief in a trial.  He gained the power of Christ. 

“The power of Christ in Paul was more important than freedom from pain.” Charles Ryrie

An interesting facet of God’s power is that it is perfected in our weakness.  Amazingly when we are weak and suffering and in need, God’s power is there.  His strength finds its full scope in our weakness.  The word “weakness” used in  Corinthians 12 verse 9 is “strengthlessness”.  Have you ever felt strengthless – like you have no strength at all?  Your strengthlessness is the very element that allows God’s power to be exhibited more perfectly in your life.  This brings us down to a choice.  Who will be supreme?  Will it be “he” or “me”?  Will I rely on God and his power and grace ... or will I continue to rely on my personal resources and abilities.

“In divine partnership, we contribute weakness.”  D L Moody

God contributes all the strength while we are so easily and constantly contribute weakness as we face our trials and his plan for our lives.  It takes our weakness to become aware of our need for his strength.  And it is our weakness that shows his strength in us!  Therefore when we are weak we are really strong and mighty and powerful because God’s strength is revealed – fulfilled and completed and shown most effective. God’s power comes to its full strength or finds its full scope in our weakness.  All that we are able to handle and endure is because of him.  Enduring and succeeding is all by and of his grace, his sufficiency, his strength, his power which stands in remarkable contrast to our absolute weakness.

God’s way is not always to take his children out of trials but instead to give them the strength to bear the trials.  This needs to be our preferred condition because it allow God to be revealed and us to grow spiritually strong.

The power of God is yours for the permanent trials, for the lasting physical affliction or disability, for unchangeable illness or weakness, for the unalterable life adjustments that come your way.  God’s power is sufficient for strengthening you for every trial ... every minute ... every day ... for as long as it takes.

God’s grace is also sufficient for the things that are fleeting, that come and go.  Power is there when you need it, as much as you need it, and at the time you need it.  Strength is available for finishing whatever needs to be finished.  God takes your weaknesses and inabilities and fills and replaces them with his almighty power.  His strength enables you to stay, to remain, to endure, to work, to assist others, to see all things through in the end.

The amazing power of the God who created the universe is also sufficient and available for new starts.  Sometimes God has us leave the familiar and start over.  As we face an unknown future wrought with unfamiliar challenges, we face its newness with our familiar, never-changing God, along with all his power and might.  No matter how fearful we are ... or sad... or how deeply we dread ... or how broken our hearts, God is there to empower us to see it through.  He will give us his strength.  God promises it and provides it.  And he always will.

What is the secret to being a mighty woman? It is what I call a “He-me” realisation.  He is strong and sufficient ... and I am not.  So I have a choice to make.  I can lean on and depend on and receive his all-sufficient, all-powerful grace ... or I can lean on and depend on myself, a losing proposition for sure!  Whatever the challenge or hurdle in your life, whatever temptation comes, whatever impossibility you are facing, whatever overwhelming physical or emotional stress plagues your life, remember – God’s grace and power are sufficient.  Such awesome, glorious, miraculous truths cannot be stated more simply, positively and powerfully: God gives his grace and power to you.  How can you incorporate this into your life?  How can you tap into God’s power for your daily issues and life’s struggles.

Step 1 Memorize 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9 “And he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

God is powerful, his grace is powerful.  And his word is also more powerful than a two-edged sword.  Once 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9 is yours and in your heart – and arsenal! – whatever you face you can say “Now remember, God says his grace is all sufficient and his power will overshadow my weakness.  Whatever this is, wherever it goes, whatever it brings, whatever is waiting for me when I get there, and however long it lasts, he gives me his grace.  He will see me through.”

Knowing and using this truth will help you approach difficulties with scriptural thoughts.  Whatever is happening to you, or whatever you’re up against, realize it is not overwhelming.  It is not a total disaster.  It is not the end.  It is not impossible.  It is not more than you can handle.  Why?  Because of God’s grace and strength.  This truth is a sword you can use as you fight depression, discouragement, anxiety and fear.  It is your balm as you live in pain, are in a painful situation, or cope with the pain birthed by something unjust or unfair.

Step 2 Realize this is a promise

Step 3 Realize God’s grace is a fact

He says his grace is sufficient.  Therefore it is, and you can count on it.  This promise is not about you – it’s about him.  We know we’re weak.  But we can bank on the promise of his strength to see us through.

Step 4 Realize the truth that God’s amazing grace is present

When it seems nothing else is left.  When there is no other hope, this truth is your hope.  His grace is with you and is more than sufficient.  There is no greater power available to you in this world!  You can count on it.

Chapter 15 Drawing on God’s Might

Can you ever encounter a trial or situation where God’s grace will not be available or sufficient?  The answer is never, never, never!  His grace is a never-failing sufficiency. 

After acknowledging our trial and God’s all-sufficient grace, the next move to make is to respond to God’s grace and might.  What can we do, other than be in awe and give worship thanksgiving and praise? The apostle Paul tells us what his response was.  He boldly and jubilantly declared, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  As Paul dwelt on the paradox of his weakness and Gods strength, he wholeheartedly accepted and embraced God’s answer of “no” to his prayer that his “thorn in his flesh” be taken away from him.  He totally and without reservation believed God’s will was best for him – and that God’s grace was indeed sufficient to help him bear his burden.

Paul not only submitted to God and to his malady, he gladly submitted, even to the point of boasting and bragging about his weakness.  Paul gloried in his weakness!  Why? Because in and through his weakness, Christ would powerfully work through him.  Christ’s power on full display through him a weak vessel, would be like a spectacular light show!  Paul was wise, knowledgeable, educated by the best of the best, a powerful lawyer and teacher, and blessed by his spectacular heritage and Jewish pedigree.  But his weakness produced an even more powerful element in his life and testimony – the power of Christ at work.

And not only was God’s spectacular, supernatural power at work and on display through Paul’s infirmity, but it also “enshrined” him.  It “rested” on him.  It “tabernacled upon” him.  It acted as “a shelter over” him.  It overshadowed Paul’s weakness and infirmity, causing his work and works to be 100 percent effective despite his problem and strengthlessness.

What are the right responses Paul gives us to ongoing trials?

Glory in them!  Let your infirmities become your pride and joy, the things you boast in and are proud of.  Find joy in them, and be content in them.  This is a challenge that may call for a huge attitude adjustment because this reaction is definitely far from our natural response to trials and suffering.

Glory in Christ’s covering! Paul says you can glory and be content in your inglorious infirmities because the mightiness of Christ rests upon you. “Resting upon you” is a beautiful concept that means to dwell in a tent.  In other words, God comes and pitches his tent over you.  Think about it – Christ abiding on ans enshrining you, overshadowing you.  He comes to rest upon you, completely covering your infirmity as with a tabernacle, a tent.  You will know God’s presence and energy and others too will recognise that God is empowering and enabling you.  The strength he imparts to you in your weakness gives testimony that he is fortifying you.

Glory in Christ’s strength!  Amazingly, when we have limitations imposed upon us we tend to do our best work for the Lord.  It is then – in weakness – we are the most dependent on him.  And that is reason to glory.  The very weakness of our nature is the chosen condition – a precious, priceless condition – under which God can manifest his strength.  Our strengthlessness strengthens your hold on God.  So as Paul declared, “glory” in your infirmities because the power of Christ rests upon you.

Many biblical personalities illustrate Paul’s same resolve. 

Samson – physical ability is a blessing that we may possess but it can keep us from being more dependent on God.  The story of Samson is a perfect example of a person who tried to live in his own strength.  God gave Samson unusual strength and leadership ability.  With these God-given abilities, he was to lead the nation of Israel.  But Samson squandered and misused this power in personal and selfish indulgences that ultimately allowed his enemies to gain the secret of his power – his uncut hair.  So God’s foes cut off Samson’s hair, gouged out his eyes and put him in chains in a prison.

In time Samson was put on public display as proof of the strength of his enemies’ gods over the strength of the God of the Israelites.  In one last effort, the blind Samson, by then in a state of complete weakness and helplessness, asked God to strengthen him one last time.  He prayed, “O Lord God, remember me I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes! ... Let me die with the Philistines!”

And God responded. Samson pulled down the pillars supporting the heathen temple where God’s mockers were meeting. The result of God’s strength empowering Samson in his weakness was that “the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.”  In his weakness Samson was made strong.

Elisha – most great leaders begin their careers as lowly followers, Elisha was a farmer plowing a field when God’s powerful prophet, Elijah, passed by and commissioned Elisha to join him.  For many years Elisha travelled in a servant capacity with the great prophet Elijah.  In God’s timing Elijah was taken to heaven and Elisha was given the role of God’s mighty prophet and spokesman to the Israelites.  Scripture records that after having waited and served, Elisha performed twice as many miracles as his mentor.  In his weakness Elisha was made strong.

Stephen – the early Christian church had a good problem.  Thousands of people were coming to Christ.  Clearly and understandably the leaders of the church needed to study God’s word and pray in order to properly lead this fast-growing church.  When the need of the many widows came to the leaders’ attention they asked that godly, wise men be chosen to administer food to the poor, the needy and the widows.  Stephen was one of those chosen to be a servant to others.

In time God took this humble servant, whose job description was to “serve tables” and empowered him to do great wonders and signs among the people”.  Eventually Stephen stood helpless and weak before persecutors.  He was filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit and strengthened by a vision of Jesus.  As he was stoned to death, Stephen was fortified by God.  He called on God, saying “Lord Jesus receive my spirit ... Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”  In his weakness Stephen was made strong.

Through our weaknesses, God can receive full credit for what he accomplishes through us.  Without his power and enablement it is impossible to bear challenging experiences in a Christlike manner.

As God’s child you get to go into every situation – every battle! – in life knowing beforehand that due to God’s grace you will overcome, you will be the victor, you will triumph.  You will never meet any situation where God’s power cannot enable you and his grace won’t abide with you.

There is nothing that will ever come your way that you cannot handle.  There is no trial you will ever face that you cannot manage with God’s help.  Gods strength and power will be there when you need them.  Therefore, be bold!

Boldly believe in God’s grace and power

Boldly step into your trials

Boldly anticipate the greatest victory of all – God’s strength displayed through your weakness.

Chapter 16 Becoming a Work of Art

The process God uses to mature us – to transform us into masterpieces – is difficult to grasp.  If we had our way, spiritual growth would definitely occur by quick, magical, pain-free means.  We would simply wave a wand and Voila! we would be instantly perfect.  But that’s not the way God chooses to work in us.

The apostle Paul never viewed spiritual growth as an easy process.  However, it did take him a while to understand that his “thorn in the flesh” was given to him to mature him to the point where he realised that his weakness provided Christ an opportunity to demonstrate his power in him.  Once Paul comprehended that God’s “strength is made perfect in weakness”, he gave himself over wholeheartedly to God’s method and means of working in him.  In fact he gave way to the point where he could with great pleasure boast in his weaknesses and welcome adversities of all kinds.  To put it in today’s language, Paul said “bring it on! Go ahead, give me any and every kind of trial and weakness.”  He wrote “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions in distresses, for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul listed a handful of conditions and difficulties that he “took pleasure in” because it gave God opportunities to work in his life and the lives of others.  First Paul mentions physical “humiliations”.  These terms refer to a literal lack of strength and indicate an inability to produce results.

Next on Paul’s list of hardships and trials in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 10 is “reproaches”.  These may involve insolence, injury, physical harm and pain.  Such harm can come in the form of insults or ill-treatment.  Graduating up the scale it can include suffering and torture.

Reproaches also include being forsaken by a good friend ... or being the target of a calculated and publicly uttered insult meant to harm you ... or facing an infuriated crowd ... or dealing with an unfair judge in a lawsuit.  Paul certainly had some experience with all of these.  We can thank the Lord he “knows how to balance burdens and blessings, suffering and glory.”

Next in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 10 Paul names “necessities”.  This includes distress and pain, hardships and deprivations. We could say it is when there is not enough – not enough food, not enough money, not enough time.

The next hardship Paul mentions is “persecution” meaning “to be put to flight or driven away, or driven out of your home.”  In Old Testament times God’s people, the Israelites, were led away from their homes and homeland – the Promised Land – and put into captivity in foreign lands.

In New Testament times Christians were dispersed as persecution set in and they were driven out or forced to flee for their lives.  Priscilla along with her husband Aquila were forced to leave their home in Rome.  Yet God enabled and empowered them no matter where they were.  Whatever home Priscilla had, she opened and shared with others ... including the apostle Paul.  Apollos who became a great orator for the cause of Christ became even more effective after Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and share their more accurate knowledge.

Rather than mope and succumb to self-pity, sadness and resentment because of being forced to move, Priscilla found strength, power and joy in the Lord to the extent that she was content and shared what she did have with others.  The work of God’s kingdom was furthered by this dear wife and husband’s heart and hospitality.

Paul suffered persecution and opposition from the day he believed until the day he died.  Yet he never gave in or gave up.  He never broke and he never turned back.  Paul counted on God’s promise of sufficient grace – and received it.  Look to God and leave your situation and its outcome to him.  God promised he will take care of you ... and he will!

“Come unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11 verses 28 and 29

Jesus is the Lord of all power and might and he will use both to give you shelter in your storms and a place when you are homeless – a home in him.  God’s grace and power is sufficient for your every challenge.

And then there are the “distresses” we face.  These can be imposed by external circumstance or inward pressure.  They include any kind of anguish, difficulties and times of stress God asks us to go through.  I call this family of challenges “the trials of too much.”  If “trials of necessities” relate to “trials of too little” (when there is not enough), “distresses” are when there’s “too much” – too much pressure, too much stress, too much pain, too much calamity.

Job in the Old Testament, is definitely an example of suffering the “trials of too much”.  He lost his family, his land, his possessions, his home, his health and his reputation.  Eventually Job lost everything.  How did he handle his “distresses”?  Job acknowledged “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

And the apostle Paul once again provides his own list of “trials of too much”.  He was in prison often (too much), flogged severely (too much), exposed to death again and again (too much), received 39 lashes (too much), beaten with rods (too much), stoned nearly to death (too much), shipwrecked three times (too much), experienced dangers from rivers (too much) and faced bandits (again too much) ... and that’s not all.  Paul’s list goes on to include much more of “too much”.

God’s grace is sufficient for every distress!  He showers you with as much as you need of him, his power, his strength, and his might to handle all that seems to be too much.

God’s path through your trials is truly a wonder, isn’t it?  Here are some additional steps to help get you through every difficulty.

Step 1 Know

Especially know these facts about God: His grace is sufficient and his strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Step 2: Grow

Spiritual growth and endurance is yours when you trust in God’s power and grace and count on them in every difficulty.

Step 3: Go

Whatever comes your way, go through it.  And know you will go through many “its” of life.  Keep on keeping on!  Don’t look for an easy way out.  Realise that God keeps his children up spiritually when they are down physically and facing other problems (such as deprivation, persecution ... and the rest of Paul’s list).  The weight of trials is what gives your feet spiritual traction.

Step 4: Show

Take pleasure in showing off God’s strength.  Be glad when you suffer because the power of Christ rests upon you and shows forth his mighty power through your weaknesses and needs.