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"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." 1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)

Friday, September 9, 2011

Trust......


"2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisterswhenever you face trials of many kinds3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
  James 1:2-4 (NIV)



When I read my heart stopped, a light bulb moment-..... "Consider it pure joy" ...I began to really think about this verse. I don't know if I or anyone else has had this come to mind when faced with the news of terminal illness or while you are going through fear of losing their home or job.  Does "Consider it pure joy" come to a persons mind when they are laying in a hospital bed or when your child is in the hospital with a life threatening illness or in a VERY dark place suffering from depression feeling hopeless thinking no one cares.  My mind was racing with so many different things I have gone through and what others I know have gone through. I do not think,"Consider it pure joy"  is the FIRST thing that comes to mind, believer or not!  I know I have been very guilty of feeling pity for myself with feelings of defeat.  But as I thought about it more and the Lord revealed, as I was reading, with a proper perspective we would be able to see pure joy in our trials.

God lets trials happen because, you see.....trials are character building. Trials shows us what we are made of; they humble us and remind us of what is really important. And through our tests/trials they bring us closer to Him.    God lets trials happen to us to help us with our spiritual inventory.  He will allow us to go through trials so that we realize what is in our hearts.  God knows what is in our heart. He is not testing us for Him; He is testing us for us, to help us.

What will keep us,  is trust in God. The trust that God is working things out for His own Holy purpose. No matter the depth of the trial having the right perspective will dictate how we react. "4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4  Using wisdom before reacting emotionally and keeping proper perspective is key. But that is hard, how can you NOT react emotionally when our heart gets ripped from our chest with the challenges of life.....do you think you would or can find joy in it or through it?  Can you see your faith in your test?  Go to God with it....scripture says that  "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5   

We have all had our fair share of trials.  Whatever we are facing or have faced there is a reason for it.  What should we take out of our trials?  What do they teach us?  When I read chapter 1 in the book of James, I thought about the things that I have gone through in my life and I can honestly say that I am who I am because of my trials.  A test of our faith is how I see trials.  They remind us of what we are made of, like in Job. He was faithful throughout all his lose and personal tragedy. Never once cursing or giving up on God.  And Abraham,  he did exactly what God told him to do because he had faith His Heavenly Father had a Holy Purpose for asking him to sacrifice his son, this is why he is called "Our Father of Faith" (find Abraham's story in Genesis 22) Trials also keep us humble and shows us what we really love. They help us to see where our perspective is and helps to grow into a person with tools equipped to help others. We all have testimonies of  developed faith;  faith that has been strengthened through trials in turn growing more mature and spiritually strong in faith to better serve our Heavenly Father!

Psalm 23:1-4
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
       I have everything I need.
 2 He lets me rest in green pastures.
       He leads me to calm water.
 3 He gives me new strength.
    He leads me on paths that are right
       for the good of his name.
 4 Even if I walk through a very dark valley,
       I will not be afraid,
    because you are with me.
       Your rod and your shepherd's staff comfort me.

4 comments:

  1. Hi IwP,
    Good post! I have something to share...
    A lesson I learned while going through a 'consider it pure joy', trial. :s
    My hubby and I went through a really rough spot about 6 weeks ago. Out of the blue my hubby attacked me, not physically, and I just didn't know where this came from. The norm for me is to get really mad at him and pout, but this time I immediately turned to God in prayer and petition and allowed my feelings to turn into joy over the persecution. My kids and I prayed and prayed and after about 3 weeks I was able to see the reason for the attack. It was Satan trying to knock me out for after God answered my prayer by getting my hubby to see his mistake and apologize, I got an important prayer request and then 2 days after that I had another important prayer request that showed me this attack was nothing but a direct hit from Satan, for what I had been request to pray for was HUGE.

    It is not easy to do, turning our hurt into joy but from what I have learned, when we do this it destroys Satan's power. While I was going through this God kept reminding me of Daniel fasting and praying for 21 days while he was waiting for his prayer to be answered, and how the angel told him that Satan had held him up in a battle.

    If only we are obedient to God's word then I believe we would see God move.

    Blessings,
    <><

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  2. Dear IMPACT with Prayer,

    Thank you, thank you so much for sharing what God has revealed to you. This has helped me tremendously!

    I've always struggled in times of trial (and still do) to find the pure joy. It is only afterwards that I can truly be thankful for the testing.

    Things happen in life, good or bad, like you I can say with all honesty, I am who I am today, because of each and every circumstance/trial. I wouldn't want to change a single moment, even if I could.

    So, with a grateful heart, I give thanks to the Holy One, Jesus. Oh, how I love Him so!

    By the way, it brings such a huge smile to my heart each and every time I see Psalm 23, without a doubt this is hands down my favourite Psalm.

    I have the words engraved on my heart and written down on zillions (is that a number?), well not zillions, but lot of pieces of paper and they're all about my house. :)

    In 1991 when my uncle passed away, his carer read Psalm 23 at his funeral. Back then, I had no idea what it even meant. I really didn't.

    Today is a complete different story! God has shared in my dreams many things that relate to Psalm 23. Each time, my heart is filled with pure joy. So I love the way you have linked the two Scriptures together.

    Wow, I think I just had a light bulb moment right now, while writing to you. They are linked... Yahoo! I'm going to jot down the Scripture in James next to Psalm 23.

    Thank You GOD! Thank you IMPACT with Prayer!

    Woohoo - pure joy! God does turn our mourning into dancing, and He give us friends to dance along side us. Doing a happy dance with you.

    May your weekend be filled with goodness and joy. All God's Best, Kerrie

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  3. My Dearest CoG, Thank You so much for sharing your story ☺ Awesome...I love to hear about how Glorious His Awesomeness sucker punches Satan!! It amazes me how our Heavenly Father seems to always show up when we least expect it. The way He matures us to react or to handle situations, wow! Truly Mind Blowing!! Before you know it you are acting with Godly character. Character that glorifies Him, the very character everyone does and should strive for.

    Bravo CoG, a beautiful to see Him work through you and to you, for being submissive to His Grace, Amen!! Glory to Be God! Big Hugs and Blessings :)

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  4. Dear Kerrie, Super Happy to do the "Happy Dance" with you ☺ ☺!! WooHoo- for pure joy! God IS awesome!! Love that this helped you and your welcome but have to give it to Him, God was all over this post!!

    Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I too still do struggle with this but I am growing and am a work in progress. I thank Him every day that He is at work in my life and through His grace we can become stronger!

    BTW--dunno if "zillion" is really a number, but who cares it sounds really good...a ZILLION!! I too love Psalm 23, I meditate with the verse a lot, it is soothing and calming. It does the heart good!!
    Big Hugs and Blessings :)

    ReplyDelete

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