Len asked me continue the line of thought from yesterday. Which is around this line: Where is God during our burdens…does he care if we are going through pain and suffering. Here are some verses I have drawn strength from in the past.
Romans 1:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James and Paul echo the same thought. Suffering is a part of life, there is no way around it. It is impossible to escape its wake. But how we handle these times determines where we put our trust. See suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; character, hope…
See there comes a time in a trial where we are asked the question who do we trust. In the middle of watching someone we love dieing or when we are going through a physical battle ourselves…who do we trust. Do we trust ourselves or doctors or….do you trust God.
Do you trust God when all else has failed…when there is no where else to turn…do you trust him. In a time of death…facing the unknown and the uncertain…do you trust God, is he going to be faithful?
It’s easy to trust God when all is going well in our lives…in fact most of us would say we hardly think of God during the good times…it’s only when things turn for the worst do we turn to God or blame him for our misfortunes.
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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.
For me these verses hold the key…we are more than conquerors and nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord…God is faithful! So no matter what we face we can know God is with us, helping us through…he never leaves our side. Knowing this should give us great confidence…So it makes sense when James says, “I consider it joy when faced with trials. See he wasn’t crazy…just confident in God’s faithfulness. But we can never get to where James was, if we don’t face trials…
Len I hope this further helps you.
-ps
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