“There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm night—I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, steadfast, unmovable” –Charles Spurgeon
There is, perhaps, no greater evidence of God’s presence in a person than the visibility of endurance. Not stoic, teeth grinding, lock-jawed endurance…but calm, tempered faithfulness which empowers a person to remain in the place where the blessing will fall again. I would love to be allowed to write a book one day on this topic because I’m watching it disappear from the landscape of churches and the testimonies of Christians. My grandfather’s generation (he would be above 90 years old if still alive) seems to have been the last generation that was deeply characterized by this trait: integrity, valor, strong hands and spines, men of their word, women of intense loyalty…have we not seen a decline in this type of individual?
Trials and problems are ordained to be a part of your life and you cannot feign surprise when they find you. Only the biblically uninformed could cry foul when difficulty comes to stay for a while. Not only are we promised acceptance, forgiveness, mercy and grace when we are brought to Jesus Christ, we are also promised cross-bearing loss, emptying sacrifice, persecution, testings from Satan, rejection from this world and emotional and mental spillage from ceaseless paradoxes that find us. We certainly gain in Christ, but we also lose. My observation is that some professing Christians were told that they signed up for the gain and were subsequently taught how to try and avoid the losses. They run from challenges. They might protest when things are removed from them. They agonize over change which does not immediately benefit them. The end result? They become vagabonds which seek to move from one presumed oasis to another. They switch spouses, jobs, churches, schools and friends. They have been pitifully taught that, if it is of God, then it most certainly will make them feel good. Especially about themselves.
My friend, how can one know that his faith is real if he avoids the exams?
I don’t mean that question to be an inverted statement of fact, I really submit it as a question needing answer. How can I know that my commitment to Christ is valid if it only remains knee-deep in the child’s pool? Truly, those with no faith at all can live lives of purpose and passion when the sun shines on their favor and the shadows fall across someone else. I believe it is consistent with God to situate His choicest blessings just on the other side of a problem or trial that He ordains for us. He has a great blessing to give you, but He needs you deepen you so the blessing does not cheapen you. He ordains an affliction of His own choosing and then appoints the blessing to manifest at the end of the affliction. Too often, we only see the trial and find our way out of it, rerouting ourselves on a more pleasing pathway…and each step on that path takes us away from the precious blessing He would have given us.
Here’s some simple advice: when tempted to foster a change that relieves you of pressure, provocation or pain…throw on the brakes. Stay put. Wait it out in deep-rooted faith to welcome God to work through time, events and people to bring about what He desires. Keep your hands off the reigns and wait in confidence in the back of the buggy in your assigned seat. If He has ordained both the trial and the blessing which follows it then you are ultimately going to learn it. Why seek to avoid or postpone the inevitable? I’ve learned that it is the height of folly to seek to miss what God has determined will hit! Much more pain finds us on the maverick path of self-will, self-comfort and self-service. So stay put and remember that He is so very worthy of your trust. He is working on your behalf, it’s just that the calm shore is on the other side of the sea’s tempest. He has not forgotten you and you should well know that as you have been ceaselessly rehearsing your desires before His throne (you have been praying about it, right?) Do not forget that He is not merely God but also Father. God can come off as a frightening concept if you fail to remember that He is your faithful, shepherding, protecting, providing, loving, gracious, merciful and delighting Father. You wouldn’t toy with your kids, would you? Why should we be suspicious that He ever would with His?
Stay put, saints. Stop looking for greener pastures.
If you find one, it’s likely because there’s a ruptured septic tank underneath the ground there. Seasons of life provide in time what people seek for themselves in immediacy. Shadows pass, trials come to a close and then there is the ultimate promise of eternal glory. Launch into that promise from where you find yourself today. If a change is in order, be careful to receive it from God rather than creating it for yourself.
My life was on stormy seas. Its great to be in the harbor for now.God bless bro.
never a timelier arrow. thank you brother