"We are living in times that can
cause both great fear and great opportunity. These are seasons where the
faithful and wise people of God can flourish. It is not because all is peaceful
or that challenges and hardships are diminishing, but these are the days that
great character is forged. As we contend with difficulties, strong hearts and
minds are being formed and creative new strategies for life are being birthed.
Deep calls to deep and extreme necessities call upon great virtues. When minds
become transformed and passionate hearts are engaged, then those qualities,
which would otherwise have lain dormant, awake to new life and new
opportunities. The Spirit of God empowers and releases these battle tested
messengers of light to bring forth His power, presence, and glory upon the
earth like never before."
Fear or Opportunity?
There are many believers who are
looking at the future with little hope or optimism. Whether it is the
eschatology or view of the end times that they may have adopted, or the continued
challenges they face, it is evident that fear and hopelessness have gripped
many. As Christ has overcome the world, so also must we in Him. We are to be
His light, the evidence of a life that has been transformed, and a life that is
not continuously shaken by the happenings all around us.
This is a time where we can be
hope filled and present the hope within us to those we engage with. There are
many opportunities to thrive and reasons to be alive in this day and age.
"Meanwhile,
the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping
us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our
praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching
groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant
condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that
every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Romans 8:28-30 Message
We are in a truly excellent
position in Him in which we cannot fail and we cannot lose, EVER! Every moment
good and every moment bad is all worked out for His good and our good in the
end. What a precious promise, what an amazing God!
Will you choose to see the
benefit in your present challenges as preparation for your bright tomorrows?
Formation Through Adversity and Suffering
C.S. Lewis once said, "God
whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our
pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
Suffering is a catalyst that
produces spiritual change. God intends for suffering to draw us into His loving
arms. Unless we really know and understand this, a crisis will tempt us to
doubt God's love, goodness, and faithfulness. You are faced with a crucial
decision whenever a crisis enters your life. Will you trust God to work in your
circumstances or will you turn your back on Him by seeking relief or comfort in
other ways? We also can move away from faith and retreat into fear. Your faith
in God and attitude toward Him ultimately determine whether your trials will
make you a better person or serve as tools for your destruction.
Jesus explains, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My
purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (John 10:10) God
loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. In His plans, ALL things
work together for good. However, those plans for your good also includes
suffering.
It is often during times of
suffering that we learn to refocus our lives on God. David confessed in Psalm 119:71, "The suffering You sent was good for me, for it
taught me to pay attention to Your principles."
God has a purpose for every
difficulty you encounter. Although this purpose is seldom obvious at the time,
you must always remember that God does not want to destroy you but strengthen
and grow you up through adversity. He wants to shape you for His glory and to
conform you to the image of Christ. He does not send suffering to crush you; He
wants you to triumph right through the suffering.
Can you reframe your story in
your mind? Can you now reshape your story of victim or suffering into one of
overcoming glory?
Wearing the Crown of His Glory Now
Scripture triumphantly proclaims
that victory belongs to all who are in Christ. God assures us, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans
8:35,37 NIV)
We must not pray for an easier
life but pray that we would remain in Him while relying on His overcoming
strength within us. We must not look at our limitations and align our work
around those limits, but we must be obedient to His will and His purpose for
our lives by being and doing through the power of His Spirit. Then we can live
prepared and present for every moment as His light and glory to the world.
True spiritual life and the life
in the body cannot be separated. Our
bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, sacred. What we have lived in the body will not go to
waste but will be lifted in our eternal life with God. As Christ bears the marks of his suffering in
his risen body, our bodies in the resurrection will bear the marks of our own
suffering. Our wounds will become signs
of glory in the resurrection.
Supernatural victory in the midst
of adversity is always there for you; it has already been done for you. Christ
has given you the victory now and for all eternity, and you can experience His
triumphant life whenever you place your faith in Him and in His promises. As
you do, you will experience abundant peace in the midst of every challenge.
Every day you will be able to see the wonders of your God through and witness
the richness of life that comes to you through the grace of your God.
Robert Ricciardelli
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