Trials and Pain: Piles of Ashes
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.—Hebrews 12:11
If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called upon to endure....
If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as He is usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.
To do His supreme work of grace within you He will take from your heart everything you love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your most precious treasures used to be. That Incredible Christian, pp. 122-124
Aissha that is so true. the people God have chosen to be his disciples go through the most troubles. think about all of the apostles in the bible. they were either constantly thrown in prison or in stephen's case stoned to death and all for loving God and doing his work. we as Christians have to forsake ourselves and our wants and desires for Christ's kingdom.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you understand Grace! Since it is around Christmas time, I am going to use an example of Mary. Mary was highly favored by God, (the angel Gabriel approached her). God has blessed her to be able to carry the Son of God! God has used her as a holy vessel. Although she was facing the fact that she could possibly face some consequences towards Joseph(him possibly leaving her), or maybe even her risking her life towards giving birth; she put her trust in God, and not in her own understanding. I feel that's something that we should keep in our mind; Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.
DeleteWow, this was a deep article. But nevertheless, it's true. God will allow you to go through suffering not to harm you, or "play around" with you, but to strengthen you. The suffering itself is due to a fallen and sinful world, so it should be expected. An escape from this world - a true peace of mind, free from challenges and suffering can only be found in heaven. So for the time being, be have to trust God through every trial. We try to find our own miniscule human ways around, under and over trials, but we always seem to fail or even end up some where worse than we started. To handle a period of suffering, you must drill through it with faith in Christ Jesus. He really is the only Way.
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