[ORIGINALLY WRITTEN NOVEMBER 29, 2009]
How many friends of mine have been faced with life-threatening situations in the brief five weeks since the death of my father!
There was the young boy with a severe head injury, who, glory be to God, fully recovered... a young man, whom the doctors gave absolutely no hope, who was miraculously restored... two grandmothers who died... two young people, on two separate occasions, involved in car accidents, whose end, yet to be seen, still lies in the hands of their Creator, the Giver and Sustainer of Life.
Seven! Seven families whose lives have been rocked to the foundation. I marvel at these incidents, all occurring one right after the other. "Why? Why?" may be the questions of some, but think, oh, think what unparalleled unity afflictions bring to the body of Christ, as together they love and lose, intercede for intervention, and comfort each other with the enduring Word of God!
Suffering is the surest reality shock. All of a sudden the truly important things stand in stark contrast to the petty trifles we bother ourselves with daily.
It is never the fiery trials that destroy us: it is how we respond that renders such opposite results. Don't fight the flames! Allow them to purge you of that stubborn dross that will often be shaken in no other way. Hold fast to Him who promised that through the fire, we shall not be burned. Trust in Him and you will come forth as gold.
There was the young boy with a severe head injury, who, glory be to God, fully recovered... a young man, whom the doctors gave absolutely no hope, who was miraculously restored... two grandmothers who died... two young people, on two separate occasions, involved in car accidents, whose end, yet to be seen, still lies in the hands of their Creator, the Giver and Sustainer of Life.
Seven! Seven families whose lives have been rocked to the foundation. I marvel at these incidents, all occurring one right after the other. "Why? Why?" may be the questions of some, but think, oh, think what unparalleled unity afflictions bring to the body of Christ, as together they love and lose, intercede for intervention, and comfort each other with the enduring Word of God!
Suffering is the surest reality shock. All of a sudden the truly important things stand in stark contrast to the petty trifles we bother ourselves with daily.
It is never the fiery trials that destroy us: it is how we respond that renders such opposite results. Don't fight the flames! Allow them to purge you of that stubborn dross that will often be shaken in no other way. Hold fast to Him who promised that through the fire, we shall not be burned. Trust in Him and you will come forth as gold.
Revival
is birthed, not in times of complacency, but in the fire. Consider the
persecution of the early church. What happened after the death of
Stephen?
"As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word" (Acts 8:3-4).
The Church grew! And in the next chapter, their persecutor Saul was converted!
What happened after King Herod had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword? Herod gave an oration before the people...
What happened after King Herod had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword? Herod gave an oration before the people...
"And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied" (Acts 12:23-24).
Herod died and the Church grew!
What happened during the years the children of Israel were in bondage in the land of Egypt?
What happened during the years the children of Israel were in bondage in the land of Egypt?
"The children of Israel were FRUITFUL, and increased ABUNDANTLY, and MULTIPLIED, and waxed exceeding MIGHTY; and the land was FILLED with them" (Exodus 1:7).
They grew!
"The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew" (Exodus 1:12).
"Wherefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit their souls
to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (I Peter 4:19).
