TRIALS ARE GOD’S PURIFIER!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2023.

SUBJECT: TRIALS ARE GOD’S PURIFIER! 

Memory verse: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers." (Isaiah 30 vs 20.)

READ: James 1 vs 2 - 4:

1:2: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various troubles,

2:3: knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

2:4: But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

INTIMATION: 

Everything God offers man on earth comes to him in the form of a promise. And the promise precedes His trial. However, trial comes before triumph, the cross comes before the crown. Darkness comes before the dawning. Promises come before problems, and problems come before provision. Gold is tried, and purified in fire to get the finest of it. So also, are God's children purified in the furnace of adversity. The brightest crowns that are worn in heaven have been tried, smelted, polished, and glorified through the furnace of a great problem. 

After you receive a promise, a loving God takes you into a tailor-made problem, revealing to you the spiritual, emotional, moral, and financial imperfections in your life. Problems will make you neither weak nor strong, but they will reveal what you are. The greater the promise, the greater the problem. The magnitude of the promise God gives you determine the intensity of the problem you are preordained to encounter. If God gives you a million-dollar promise, you can count on a million-dollar problem. The wilderness comes before the provision in the promise. The diamonds (the promises) is in the dust (the problems).

Many people believe that Christianity should offer a problem-free life. Consequently, as life gets tough, they draw back disappointed. Instead, they should determine to prevail with God through life’s storms. Problems and difficulties are painful but inevitable; you might as well see them as opportunities for growth. You can’t prevail with God unless you have troubles to prevail over. When we are burdened, we may feel defeated. But our burdens can make us stronger and develop qualities in us that will prepare us for the future. We cannot be over-comers without troubles to overcome. 

As believers, we feel that if the Holy Spirit leads us, it will always be “beside the still waters” (Psalm 23 vs 2). But that is not necessarily true. He lead Jesus into the wilderness for a long and difficult time of testing, and He may also lead us into difficult situations. When facing trials, first make sure you haven’t brought them on yourself through sin or unwise choices. If you find no sin to confess or unwise behavior to change, then ask God to strengthen you for the test. Finally, be careful to follow faithfully wherever the Holy Spirit leads.

In our memory verse, the Lord gave His people the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but He promised to be with them, teach them, and guide them during hard times. God expects a lot from us, and many times following Him can be painful, but He always acts out of His love for us. Next time you go through a difficult time, try to appreciate the experience and grow from it, learning what God wants to teach you. God may be showing you His love by patiently walking with you through adversity.

How you conduct yourself in the problem will determine how long you stay in the problem. It took God one day to get the children of Israel out of Egypt; it took Him years to get Egypt out of them. The children of Israel murmured, complained, made another god for themselves, rebelled against Moses, and so on. And all these God hate. Experts have calculated that the Israelites could have walked across the wilderness in ninety days, but it took them forty years. When we face hardship and discouragement, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. Suffering is the training ground for Christian maturity. It develops our patience and makes our final victory sweet. 

Some people say that troubles are the result of sin or lack of faith, but they may be a part of God’s plan for believers. Our problem can help us look upward and forward, instead of inward, they can build strong character (Romans 5 vs 3 - 4), and they can provide us with opportunities to comfort others who also are struggling (Second Corinthians 1 vs 3 - 5). Your troubles may be an indication that you are taking a stand for Christ. When you do so, you are experiencing the privilege of showing that you are worthy of God’s kingdom (Second Thessalonians 1 vs 11).

Prayer: Abba Father, I know you want to make me mature and complete, even in my trials. I thank You for promising to be with you in rough times. Give me the strength to endure, and help me to help solve my problems, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!