THE
TRUTH REGARDING BELIEVER’S TROUBLES
BREAD
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have
peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world.” John 16:33 (NIV)
2 Consider
it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing
of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)
12 Dear
friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though
something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of
the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests
on you. 15 If you
suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal,
or even as a meddler. 16 However,
if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear
that name. 1 Peter 4:12-16 (NIV)
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember
the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they
will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way
because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” John 15:18-21 (NIV)
8 We do
not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the
province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to
endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt
the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves
but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he
will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver
us, 11 as you
help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the
gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (NIV)
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But
the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will
teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.” John 14:25-27 (NIV)
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called,
he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 He who did
not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along
with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will
bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he
that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to
life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is
written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep
to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)
BUTTER
“In believing
prayer, we learn to connect our present troubles to the good and perfect will
of God. We refuse to believe that chance
rules our lives. We withstand the
temptation to imagine that God is capricious or malicious. We know he has a higher purpose and that he
is not dealing with us as our sins deserve. As we bring our troubles to Jesus in
prayer—asking his will to be done—we approve the will of our Father in heaven.
We see our sufferings in the greater reality of his good, acceptable, and perfect
will. In prayer we “turn crisis to
Christ.” Our heart becomes tuned to his
heart and we sing the song of grace.” Ancient Prayer, John F. Smed
“A fixed, constant attention
to the promises, and a firm belief in them, would prevent solicitude and
anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and
composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the
several troubles of life….Christians deprive themselves of their most solid
comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there
are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” Samuel
Clarke
“Sometimes the enemy seems to get an
advantage over us; but the battle is not over yet. At last thou shalt
have the victory, and carry the day for all that. In hard struggles
remember the power of Christ, who, in his resurrection, broke through everything.
With him thou canst also break through, and be more than conqueror. Yea,
in every conflict, if thy faith be firm, thou canst be sure of victory
beforehand; for faith engages Christ’s power, and his power ensureth victory;
it is as impossible for thine enemies to keep thee always in bonds, as it was
impossible that Christ could be kept in the grave by the stone, seal, and
keepers. Nay, the greater their force is, the more glorious will be the
victory of Christ over them.” K.
H. Von Bogatzky
“You see, we all
have what Paul Tripp calls ‘Gospel amnesia.’
We (probably) know the truth; we just don’t allow the truth to set us
free, to quote Jesus. We have to
remember that every hardship in life and ministry—marriage conflicts, parenting
questions, financial struggles, fear of the future, loss of vision or focus,
divisiveness in leadership, etc.—is an opportunity to apply the gospel. Even saying it like that is wrong. We don’t “apply the gospel” to the issues of
life, as if it was a mathematical formula.
The gospel is not a principle to master or a procedure to follow. The gospel is life. It is how we live life as a believer. It is how we relate to ourselves, to God, and
to each other. The Scriptures put it
like this: “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb.
10:38). The just, the righteous, the
people of God, live only by faith. We
don’t live by effort or insight or emotion; we live by faith in the work of
Another, and his name is Jesus.” Dr. Tom Wood
“We are never beyond the Shepherd’s eye. In our sorrows He observes us incessantly, and not a pang escapes Him; in our toils He sees all our weariness, and writes in His book all the struggles of His faithful ones. These thoughts of the Lord encompass us in all our paths and penetrate the innermost regions of our being. Not a nerve or tissue, valve or vessel of our bodily organization is uncared for: all the littles of your little world are thought of by our great God.” Charles Spurgeon
“A
noted scientist observing that ‘early voyagers fancied that the coral-building
animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford
themselves protection in the inner parts,’ has disproved this fancy by showing
that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and
in a highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that
protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest
and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the
making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and
vigorous vitality. Hardship makes
character.” Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
HEART
SAVOR
- · There is purpose in our pain for the child of the King. We are not to waste our tribulations. God is always about making beauty out of our ashes.
- · God gives the grace sufficient to meet each need the believer has - when the need arises. If he doesn’t have the need, he doesn’t need the grace. He is no grace waster.
- · Part of building a mighty army for the Lord Jesus is strengthening the saints through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s choice instrument in accomplishing this is trials.
