How do you thrive under trials?

[johnthebaptist]

17 hours ago, Figure of eighty said:

I just feel stressed from poor treatment from parents. Tending to kids. Ex arguing with me-- trying to live Gods way but im breaking down. In everyway. 

 

I feel abandoned by God bc he wont speak or give direction. Im trying not to leave him bc i just feel left myself.

It seems to me that constant prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17) is the path to follow.

[Arrabon]

8 hours ago, SIC said:

I'm yet to reach a level of maturity where I can praise God irrespective of the circumstances..

@SIC

It has taken me many years to reach anything close to the level of maturity you mention as James does also. There are many levels in that maturing process, and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm probably a 5 or 6.

I experience a great deal of pain physically and emotionally, periodically, and much of the time I can thank Him and praise Him, but there are times all I can do is cry out and ask for "MERCY", when the pain becomes unbearable.

Our God is a merciful and comforting God who loves us and understands when it's the right time to give us that mercy and relief.

As we age our bodies begin to wear out and degrade, and that process is beyond painful at times, as well as the emotional pain some of us have experienced over the years, that sometimes begins to break us down, and not allow us to deal strongly with the stressors of life as we once did.

All of this can really cause you to grow closer to God, and be so thankful He will be there for us, anytime we call out and beg for healing and comfort.

PRAISE GOD that He is very close to us, and hears us, and even answers when life becomes a challenge at times, we can't handle without Him.

 

God bless all you who are experiencing the pains of life, that eventually come to us all.

May God in His love, draw close to you, as you draw close to Him.!!

Arrabon

[Figure of eighty]

21 hours ago, SIC said:

When I was younger, I used to revile God when I went through trials. I have even told God " You are a stingy God.". God is His infinite mercy responded to my reviling with kindness and helped me grow spiritually.

Now when I go through trials I have atleast learnt to keep my mouth shut. I neither praise God nor revile him. I just wait for the trial to get over..

I'm yet to reach a level of maturity where I can praise God irrespective of the circumstances..

This is me right now. I keep my mouth shut but man i have some thoughts abt him when im going through.

[SIC]

1 hour ago, Figure of eighty said:

This is me right now. I keep my mouth shut but man i have some thoughts abt him when im going through.

That's part of being a fallen human being

[Marathoner]

@SIC contributed something crucial that I pray isn't lost upon you, @Figure of eighty: honesty before the Lord. The Lord delights in those who deal truthfully (Proverbs 12:22).

Make no mistake, nothing is hidden from God (Hebrews 4:13) and He knows the secrets of our heart (Psalm 44:21). Don't you think Christ knows your secrets, your anger, and your resentment? Surely He knew my heart for when the Lord lifted me up me from the grave, I burned with anger against God who delivered me with a mighty hand. Why? I longed for death and the Son of God denied my plea!

For all of the times I failed Him... the wandering without a home, never knowing where the next meal would come from... the afflictions of this body, making me ill and weak... in the end I lost everything to disease, even the teeth in this mouth. I suffered traumatic brain injury from the trial I endured for over twenty years so when I was close to death, I couldn't speak a word. I barely looked human when the Lord came, declaring that I would never taste death. Christ would restore what was taken from me a hundredfold. 

Ah, but I was blind so little wonder I despaired. My mind was such a jumbled mess that I couldn't hold on to a thought for long. At first my recovery was a grueling ordeal for His Spirit taught me how to reason and speak again, one agonizing step at a time. I was humiliated when I found myself incapable of pronouncing the word "the," and in the chaos of my mind I was seized by a terrible rage. I screamed and roared, and because I was incapable of vocalizing the torment of my estate I cried out in my heart, "Why didn't You destroy me, Lord! Why must I continue to suffer?" I wept until I lost consciousness and fell asleep.    

His Spirit would stir me and when He did, the rage was gone. I was astonished when the Lord declared that He was well-pleased with my honesty before Him, withholding nothing in my heart. Of course He knew all of these things, and so it pleases God when we declare those secrets of our heart in His presence, withholding nothing from Him. As the scripture tells us, the Lord delights in those who deal truthfully. 

Remember the lesson of Cain. Instead of telling the truth to the Lord, Cain chose to lie instead; God's response to Cain demonstrates the futility of Cain's lying lips. Are you angry with the Lord? Then confess this to Him, @Figure of eighty. Hold nothing back. Reticence and pretense, seeking to hide one's heart from the Almighty, is akin to what afflicted Adam in the garden. What would have happened if Adam ran to the Lord and sought His mercy? If Cain would have spoke truthfully, confessing his deeds before God?

He desires a relationship with us, my friend. Pray about this.  

Edited August 16, 2021 by Marathoner

[Figure of eighty]

10 hours ago, Josheb said:

By faith. 

 

That is not a cliché. It is the answer to the inquiry. When everything boils down to the end - and all things do boil down to the end - only one thing will have mattered: did you believe? 

 

A person can thrive many ways but thriving with Jesus is going to look much different (on both sides of the grave) than "thriving" without Jesus. A good time can be had without Jesus; lots of folks are having lots of fun empty on the inside. It's that dearth that drives their perception of "fun". If you want to thrive then spend time reading God's word, praying for your circumstances to change and praying for others. Stay connected with others and try to make that group of friends a diverse bunch because one anxious or depressed person hanging out only with other anxious or depressed people leads to more anxiety and depression. Find exemplary people and associate with, befriend, and/or learn from their example and all the more so wherever they believe. Do something kind for someone else and then as a third person to do you a favor (have them loan you a book you'd like to read, or bring you a devotional from their church, etc.). Lastly, examine your own thinking for it is out of the abundance of our heart the mouth speaks and if your mouth is speaking hopelessness then it is because there is something within feeling and believing things are hopeless. As a woman thinketh so she is. 

 

James 1:2-8
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,  being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

James 1:27
"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

 

Ask God and believe. Help others. Consider giving Corrie ten Boom's books "The Hiding Place," and "Tramp for the Lord," a read; they might be find an additional source of inspiration. Remember: when you share things here there are others praying for you. 
 

This is very true. I hope im getting this right and not just clinging to anything but i feel maybe the reason i dont hear God when im going through ( like now) is bc this is what faith is. Clinging to God when you cant hear or see Him. 

And i feel there may be purpose in my struggle. Bc i just shared God with my coworker we had a lengthy discussion. 

And i hope I planted some seeds but i was so stoked to be used bc i feel me shutting up ans enduring is paying off. 

[Figure of eighty]

2 hours ago, Josheb said:

It might also be because there is a lot of bad teaching on faith. One of the most egregious of bad teachings on faith is that directs us to rely on feelings. However, it looks like you've got things squared away based on your next few statements, 

None of us hear or see God they way we would like to do so . A lot of people claim to hear from god when in reality it is their own imagination. It's a form of idolatry that should be avoided and/or resisted. So too is relying on hearing. That sounds incorrect but it's not. We rely on God, not hearing from God. God is always present with us whether we hear Him, see Him, or "feel" Him or not. It goes with His being God. We just need to believe. We just need to trust that is true. 

Of course there is purpose in your struggle, if it is in fact a struggle (more on that in a minute). There are many places in the Bible that speak of God's purpose in the lives of various humans but the most notable concerning this op is Romans 8:28ff. God works ALL things for good in the lives of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The purpose of God is stated to exit in that verse........... for His purpose!  lol Ours is not a purposeless God and He cares about every single one of us. If you had been the only one who would believe in Jesus God would have sent him just for you. Do not EVER let anyone tell you any differently. In the Bible people are reported to have seen miracles, many of them involving hearing God or seeing God but not a single one of those experiences was enough to make a person always and everywhere believe. None were faithfully faithful. So, Figure of eighty, even if you do manage to doubt along the way just get back to believing because that too is covered by the blood of Calvary. 

Aside from the Romans 8 text just mentioned you might benefit from reading, meditating and contemplating upon 2 Peter 1:3-9. Peter says we have everything we need but he anticipates the question, "Do I believe what Peter is saying?" and adds we've got to believe and then add to our faith a bunch of stuff.....

2 Peter 1:3-9
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,  by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins."

He pins our problems on a single premise: we forget we have been made clean.  

So believe. And then get busy with the virtue and knowledge and affection, etc. because living a godly life and participating in the divine nature is pretty extraordinary .

Even if your parents and ex-husband don't get it. 

 

Which brings me back to my earlier comment about whether or not there's an actual struggle, or what the nature of it might actually be. It is common in my profession to meet people who are bearing the effects of other people's sins, not their own. Or not just their own. Depending on the nature of the abuse, sometimes a person's soul is laid bare, split wide open unawares while the perpetrator pours words of dross right into the soul rent in two. We have a saying, "The victim bears the identity the abuser gave the victim." Boys told the were girly-boys (or worse) while they were being sodomized grow up into men unsure of their masculinity. Women called sluts (or worse) while being raped have similar challenges. I hope none of this is too close to home. I'd say stop reading if it is but the worst is over. The point is that when people are mean to others it can have a profound effect on us but there is no sin - not our nor others - that is too big for God. 

Now here's the rub: your parents and ex-husband have problems. I don't know the specifics but I do know they have problems. My suggestion to you is to not let their anger, their meanness, their hurt make you like them. It is tough to have compassion for those behaving ill-mannered but it will help insulate you from further harm. If someone calls me a poopoohead I know that Luke 6:45 is at play and they are in distress. Compassion, not retaliation is in order. Or mercy. Or simply understanding the problem is within them not you. If your compassion (generosity, kindness, etc.) toward them is not received then pour it into the lives of others as I previously suggested. 

 

Genesis 1:28
"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it....."

 

Remember Whose you are and you will better recall who you are. You are a daughter of The Most High God, a woman chosen by God Himself as a royally priestly member of His holy nation.

Do you believe it?

It is sad your parents and ex don't know that truth, or if known then not lived.

 

 

 

Yes to this! Faith isnt a feeling its taken me a minute to get this.

[biblelesson]

On 8/14/2021 at 3:55 PM, Figure of eighty said:

I just feel stressed from poor treatment from parents. Tending to kids. Ex arguing with me-- trying to live Gods way but im breaking down. In everyway. 

 

I feel abandoned by God bc he wont speak or give direction. Im trying not to leave him bc i just feel left myself.

You’ve stepped into the furnace of affliction, Isaiah 48:10. During this time God stays silent with us, Psalms 22:2. But not forever. If He stop your growth now, you remain a weak Christian. You will lack the Fruit of the Spirit. But if he stays silent and allow your pain and hurt and frustration, you will call on Him, the only one who can make you like iron, Micah 4:13.

You are doing what He expects. He know you will be troubled. He knows you will be angry at Him. He knows you will be confused. You are in His hands. Your pain is glorifying the Lord, because He is building you up in Christ to strengthen you to do His work. He can’t use you if you remain the same.

It took me a long time to come to terms with this. I didn’t even want to I say “let thy will be done” at first. Because I didn’t want it. But the more you cry out to God, the more He builds you up spiritually. Little by little - so He is speaking to you! His way at first. As you grow, and yes, through the furnace of fire, you will start to hear Him because your spirit will be softened enough to hear the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

So, count it all joy because our suffering due to God’s chastisement means we are His children, Hebrews 12:8.

Edited August 17, 2021 by biblelesson

[Figure of eighty]

On 8/17/2021 at 6:22 PM, biblelesson said:

You’ve stepped into the furnace of affliction, Isaiah 48:10. During this time God stays silent with us, Psalms 22:2. But not forever. If He stop your growth now, you remain a weak Christian. You will lack the Fruit of the Spirit. But if he stays silent and allow your pain and hurt and frustration, you will call on Him, the only one who can make you like iron, Micah 4:13.

You are doing what He expects. He know you will be troubled. He knows you will be angry at Him. He knows you will be confused. You are in His hands. Your pain is glorifying the Lord, because He is building you up in Christ to strengthen you to do His work. He can’t use you if you remain the same.

It took me a long time to come to terms with this. I didn’t even want to I say “let thy will be done” at first. Because I didn’t want it. But the more you cry out to God, the more He builds you up spiritually. Little by little - so He is speaking to you! His way at first. As you grow, and yes, through the furnace of fire, you will start to hear Him because your spirit will be softened enough to hear the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

So, count it all joy because our suffering due to God’s chastisement means we are His children, Hebrews 12:8.

This was so beautifully written. Thank You.

[Leonardo Von]

Quote

How do you thrive under trials?

There are many reasons. For instance:

* The trials compel us to keep in touch with Jesus more deeply;

* The trials oblige us to seek in Christ things that we never thought that we would be able to do.