Antelope Valley 40 Days Of Purpose

Oh.. oh… trouble… trials… the things we try and avoid… we all avoid pain and suffering, and even circumstances that are uncomfortable.

but…God has a purpose behind every trouble. God uses circumstances in our lives to develop our character. The very difficult life circumstances that we live in every day are God’s way of maturing us and making us Christlike.

No one is immune from pain or somehow insulated from suffering. No one can just breeze through life without problems. Many of us feel like we should be able to though. And we resent problems instead of embrace them. It is amazing how many problems there are, isn’t it? When we just get through one, we find another one hits us. Life is a series of problems. They may not be big ones, just irritating, nonetheless God uses each one as a significant way to grow us up and mature us.

Peter said in I Peter 4:12 “Don’t be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange or unusual thing that is going to happen to you.” We are even encouraged before they happen to not think it strange when it happens. God uses problems to draw you closer to himself.

It is really hard to get our minds around the idea that our most intimate days of worship and closeness with God can actually be the darkest and most difficult days that we experience. This is where we lose sight sometimes of what God is doing in our lives. If we are not rooted and grounded in His Word, then we give in to feelings of despair, loneliness, fear, resentment and bitterness. It’s during these times of suffering that we can be the most authentic with God and draw near to him.

Problems force us to look to God for help. When we feel strong and self assured many times we don’t think we need help. When we have problems that make us feel weak, and we suffer, we then have to humbly as God to help us… Our independent “self will” must be transformed to “His will”. You’ll never know that God is all you need until God is all you got…

God didn’t spare His own Son from suffering. Why do we think that He with spare us? The real question is “who is in control of our circumstances?” Every day of your life was on God’s calender before you were even born. Everything that happens to you has spiritual significance.

Romans 8:28-29 says ” We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son.”

In our reading today, Pastor Rick Warren opens up this scripture very beautifully. Please read it if you haven’t already.

The point is this though.. God is committed to you, and his promise is to make you like His Son Jesus. He loves you, but He doesn’t spare you from life’s daily trials and problems because He knows that these alone are the very things that mold us and shape us to be Christlike. When you are in the middle of suffering you need to reach deep inside to the very core of your being and remind yourself of three things:

1. Remember that God’s plan is good
2. Remember to rejoice and give thanks
3. Remember… Never Give Up!

As difficult as times may get, there is encouragement from God’s word and promises that we can hold on to. It’s through perseverance that we obtain the end result. God’s proven character and the joy that comes in the morning…