2 Thessalonians 1:5 God is using your sufferings
to make you ready for his kingdom. ( TLB)
In God's order of things, life is
always preceded by death. A grain of wheat has within it the potential of
becoming many grains of wheat, but first the solitary grain must fall into the
ground and die. It is only after death that its potential is released, and out
of the dying comes an abundant harvest. That principle is not just to be seen
as an interesting fact of nature; if our lives are to be fruitful, then we,
too, must be willing to die to our own purposes so that we might live to God's.
Let’s examine is the area of obstacles
and opposition. Would you like your life to be free of those potentially
frustrating situations that block your way or impede your spiritual development?
We could be worse off without them. The obstacles and opposition we face can
turn out to be prods - prods toward our spiritual growth.
One writer wrote, “A minister friend of mine who was going through a period of great
difficulty once asked me to pray with him that God would remove all the
obstacles from his ministry. I put my hand lovingly on his shoulder and
replied: "If He does, it will make your ministry less effective." He
saw the point, and instead asked me to pray that God would help him to die to
his own concerns. I did, and from that day to this, his ministry has flourished
and become extremely fruitful. And so, my friend, can yours.
It is the struggles that help build our
spiritual muscles, our faith, when we see the Lord’s faithfulness come through
for us time after time. We have to exercise our body muscles to gain strength;
doesn’t it then make sense that we must exercise our spiritual muscles? It is
the obstacles and hurdles we must face when we know…KNOW…that it is only
through God’s intervention that we can endure and overcome.
O Father, more and more the conviction
grows that it is not what happens to me, but what I do with it, that is
important. Deepen this conviction within me so that it becomes a controlling
one - today and every day. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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