Suffering = Sanctification

As I was praying this morning, I was reminded of the passage in 1 Peter about God's purpose in trials and suffering. I strongly felt the Spirit prompting me to look it up because it is so relevant to both Marty and I in each of our unique trials at the moment. I love it when God speaks through His word like that, and I can't get enough of reading it! Here it is...

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while 

you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that your faith 

- of greater worth than gold, which perishes 

even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine 

and may result in praise, glory and honour 

when Jesus Christ is revealed...

 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, 

the salvation of your souls."

[1 Peter 1:6-7,9]

It is such a wonderful passage because it highlights so many truths:

1 |  Our suffering is only temporary. 

      God will carry us through it, and will bring us out the other side.

2 | When we come out the other side we will not be the same as we were beforehand. 

     He is refining our faith, just like gold is refined through fire.

3 | Our faith is God's priority. 

     He wants us to be growing and to be refined so that we are conformed to the likeness of Christ.

4 | The gospel doesn't end with us. 

     If it ended with us, we would be tempted to get puffed up with pride. 

     Instead, the culmination of all of our suffering and refinement is that God will be glorified when Jesus is  

     revealed.

I find it so encouraging amidst trials to read this and understand that there is purpose in what I'm going through, and that God is working perhaps even more intensively than if things were a lot easier for me. Looking back on seasons of my walk with God, I am most grateful for the times of trial and suffering because I can now see that it was in those times that I grew the most; that I was forced to my knees in submission to God's will, and I learned how to really, truly trust my Heavenly Father. Nothing compares to these times, and if God's priority is that we keep growing in our faith, then we should expect them, anticipate them, and rejoice in them because the Lord has our full attention and can work most powerfully in us through them.

"In the daytime there are stars in the heavens, 

but they only shine at night.

And the deeper that I go into darkness,

The more I see their radiant light.

So let me learn that my losses are my gain,

To be broken is to heal,

That the valley's where your power is revealed."

['In the Valley', Sovereign Grace]

It is well with my soul

"When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, You have taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul"

Horatio Spafford, 1873

It's easy when we are young in our faith to say, 'I trust that God has the perfect plan for me'. But it becomes more difficult to say this when we face challenges and realise that God's plan might not actually entail all that we had in mind. It's a time like this for me at the moment, and while it would be tempting to throw it all in and think that God doesn't care, or mustn't exist at all, I can feel God holding on to me tightly because these thoughts don't stay for long. Instead the Spirit is challenging me to trust that even though the plans I have set out for myself might seem to be wonderful, they might not happen, and God has something even better in store for me. This requires me to relinquish the control I thought I had over my life and give it to the Lord in a much more real way than ever before.

It must seem absurd to a non-Christian that I would continue to trust in a God who doesn't give me what I want when I want it... Why should I pledge allegiance to a God who seems so unfair? But I know that seeking after God was never going to be an easy road. It wasn't always going to make sense. And I can't always see what's ahead of me. But that's the very essence of trust.

I can trust in God's character because he has shown time and time again through my life so far that he is wise, he is just, he is compassionate, and he is love. My heavenly Father knows what is best for me, and that is to grow in depth of faith and love with Him. He is teaching me that nothing else matters in comparison. 

Being There

I've heard it said (it was probably at the cheesy end of a movie) that 90% of being a good parent is simply showing up. I think its the same of marriage. There are inevitably going to be times in marriage - when things go wrong, when one of us stuffs something up, or when one of us receives some terrible news - when there is nothing you can say... you just have to be there for one another. It's in these times that words cannot express sorrow nor can they heal wounds. We just need to know we're there for one another. Sometimes silence can be more soothing than any words, as long as there is a hand to hold in the darkness.

Its in these times that I realise most clearly that I cannot be everything to my husband. Only God is powerful enough to soften his heart, to comfort his weary soul, and to carry the burdens he no longer can bear. Only God can make a difference to the future of such circumstances, and give him assurance that there is indeed hope ahead. These are the times when I can do nothing else but fall to my knees before our Heavenly Father and commit everything to Him in prayer because I have nothing left to offer.