A Life of Trials

"Get me out of this...now!" In those seasons of pain and struggles, it is only natural for us to want to get out of it fast.  Some of the most difficult times in my life have proven to be the most life growing & strengthening times as well. It has been said, “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials."  This is true in my life as a brother, son, dad, husband and child of God.  When I look back on those tough times, I can honestly say, though not pleasant, they made me a better man today. They have prepared me for today and tomorrows trials by leaning into the Father.  "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."James 1:2-4 MSG Today, in your struggle, instead of asking "why" Lord? Ask "what" can I learn today thru this trial Lord? Easier said than done? Sure, but He will not only pull us thru it but grow us thru it. "God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and more concerned about our holiness than our happiness." Norman Geisler Rodney Holmstrom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do we introduce ourselves?

One of the things that might confuse a newcomer coming into this great ministry is the way we introduce our self and do so every time we meet in a Step Group and/or Open discussion group. The question that often comes up is; “Why in the world would we have to introduce our self every time we come together? I mean, we all know each other don’t we? We all know what the other is struggling with right? So why should I have to state my main issue I am dealing with? These are all logical questions and I think the below content from Tina at Saddleback might help shed some light on this. As you may already know, in our small groups we ask our Leaders to introduce themselves with this statement: “Hi my name is _______; I am a believer who struggles with________.” We ask our leaders to keep it short; to stick to one or two primary areas of recovery. We ask them not to state a host of recovery issues and character defects, etc… especially because we do not run recovery specific groups for cha...
Read more

Guidelines are there for a reason

Anyone who has participated in a Step Study or a small group through Celebrate Recovery has heard the five small-group guidelines. They’re supposed to be read aloud before each meeting starts, just to remind everyone or to inform any newcomers. Most of the guidelines are obvious and make perfect sense on the first reading. Anonymity is vital and as people who are submitting to God as our Higher Power, we should realize that we are in no more a position to “fix” each other than we are to “fix” ourselves. There’s one guideline that puzzled and even annoyed me at first, that pesky no. 2. “There is NO cross talk. Cross talk is when two individuals engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her feelings without interruptions.” At first I really didn’t understand the guideline. “Did they seriously need to tell us not to talk to each other while someone was sharing?,” was my thought. But as the guideline was explained further, I better understood. We ar...
Read more

Producing vs Bearing fruit

Can I "produce" fruit, or do I "bear" the fruit? Interesting thought for me this morning. I used to believe that once God dealt with my past, cleansed my heart, got me back on track, and living on His path, that it was time for me to take off as a healthy runner for the Kingdom. What I am learning now though, is that I must take off and run for His glory but, that I must run "with" the Father and not solo. Solo running got me into trouble in my past.  Once I get to the point of growth and renewed and sound mind, then it is the time that I get to "bear" the fruit of all the work me and the Father have done together. Notice I didn't say, time for me to "produce" the fruit. CR has taught me that the Father is the one who produces the fruit in my family, ministry... my life. He produces it and then I can bear the fruit He has produced thru our journey together. The only way He can produce fruit in my life is thru a continued self exam...
Read more