EVERYONE HURTS in some ways.
A man with a knee replacement did not go looking for pain—pain found him.
Joseph did not go looking for a date when his brothers sold him into slavery. (Genesis 37:18-36)
Hardships, persecutions, and disappointments will come—and because God has a reason for adversity, it will be difficult not to ask why?
Job asked why God had made him a target. (Job 7:20)
GOD WILL NOT be angry when you do so, but never ask if you’re not ready to hear the answer.
However, you may ask and not get an answer—and you’ll have to wait till you get to heaven.
GOD MAY ALLOW things into your life because he is interested in what you are becoming.
He tested Israel in the wilderness to know what’s in their hearts. (Deuteronomy 8:2)
He will rather allow things to shape us into what he wants us to be.
THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCE of sin is adversity in one form or the other.
And when we sin, God disciplines us because he loves us, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. (Hebrews 12:6)
After all, life comes together with truth.
SOMETIMES, adversity comes through temptation. But remember that it cannot get to you without God permitting it.
For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ, and Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
It can also be God sending something into your life.
God is far more interested in building character in us than we understand.
When we face adversity, our instinct is to blame someone and not take ownership.
Job’s wife wanted someone to blame, so she told her husband to curse God and die—but he refused. (Job 2:9)
SOME PEOPLE look for other ways of escape.
Sometimes, people back-up in anger. They are bottled up and walk around like a ticking time bomb.
To escape, some give up and do not care. But you must understand that adversity is good.
To turn away from it isn’t the right thing to do—there is a way to profit from it.
ONE OTHER REASON we react in a certain way is our nature. We want the pain to end. Our focus goes to the circumstance, and we doubt God’s love for us.
We feel that the pain wouldn’t end soon. You begin to despair and want out. The danger with this approach is that you miss learning in the situation.
We forget that God acts for those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)
WHEN PAUL had a thorn in the flesh. He raised it three times before the Lord.
At no point did God say to Paul that he has had enough or God was angry with him. But he said, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
God is saying to you that grace is what you need. His power reaches peak performance in your weakness.
You are at your best in crisis mode.
You must be willing to bleed, to be blessed
IF YOU ARE dealing with excruciating pain and difficult circumstances, there are ways to depend on Him.
Take a cue from Paul, who surrendered to the Will of God.
WHEN THINGS are hard, people will advise that you look for the cheapest way out, which will put you in more trouble.
The world may be looking for a reason to put you where you do not belong, but all you must do is walk in obedience to God.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
A MAN that has seen amazing sights and sounds never heard before by anyone was subjected to pain.
And he realized that you must be willing to bleed, to be blessed.
To sharpen your faith, you may need to bleed with life’s pressures—and this is how your faith will define you.