Continued from Part 1.
The longer I live, the more I think I'm just beginning to understand this journey, this process, called sanctification. Trials are a necessary component. We don't get to choose the one's we get. But we do get to choose how we respond to them.
How we respond is, in large part, affected by the lens through which we interpret our situations. Thank God He breaks the fourth wall so often by revealing behind-the-scenes details to build our understanding and faith!
To get a little perspective, let's look at Scripture's revelation for the previous examples:
Peter's bitter denial - We're familiar with Jesus' prophecy that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed. But Jesus also said, "Simon, Simon, behold, satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you [plural] like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Jesus didn't ask His Father to keep satan's hands off the disciples. He asked Him to sustain Peter's faith during the trial God was going to allow. So he, in turn, could strengthen his brothers.
Joseph's painful mistreatment - Thankfully Scripture gives us a clue about what was really happening. "The LORD was with Joseph." Everywhere. And it showed up in his confession of faith in God's goodness: "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.... God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." The entire tapestry of betrayal, desertion, slander, punishment, imprisonment, and loneliness was woven by the hand of God. To save lives. To preserve a remnant.
How we respond is, in large part, affected by the lens through which we interpret our situations. Thank God He breaks the fourth wall so often by revealing behind-the-scenes details to build our understanding and faith!To get a little perspective, let's look at Scripture's revelation for the previous examples:
Peter's bitter denial - We're familiar with Jesus' prophecy that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed. But Jesus also said, "Simon, Simon, behold, satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you [plural] like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Jesus didn't ask His Father to keep satan's hands off the disciples. He asked Him to sustain Peter's faith during the trial God was going to allow. So he, in turn, could strengthen his brothers.
Joseph's painful mistreatment - Thankfully Scripture gives us a clue about what was really happening. "The LORD was with Joseph." Everywhere. And it showed up in his confession of faith in God's goodness: "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.... God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." The entire tapestry of betrayal, desertion, slander, punishment, imprisonment, and loneliness was woven by the hand of God. To save lives. To preserve a remnant.
Paul's excruciating thorn - God gave Paul amazing insight into the trial intended to keep him from becoming conceited. God said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." From that point on Paul would gladly boast about his weaknesses, so that Christ's power would rest on him. In fact, he delighted in his weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. For when he was weak in his natural self, he was made strong by the power of God.
Job's unbelievable loss - We are given incredible clarity into this heart-wrenching situation. God gave satan permission to lay Job bare. And in the conversations that follow we see worldviews collide until all are silenced by the surpassing sovereignty of God. Job confesses, "I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted. Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Even though Job had spoken of God what was right, his knowledge needed expanding.
David's tragic fall - Like the rest of the people in the Bible, David was real. Every time I read his account I feel like shouting at the movie screen, "No, David, NO!" But he's just like us. The question really becomes, what do we do with our failures? Our guilt? David took his sin and shame and laid them at God's feet, along with the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, because he believed in a God of unfailing love with the power, authority, and desire to forgive sins, cleanse completely, and restore joy in Him. David suffered the consequences of his sin. But God demonstrated His incredible grace by giving Bathsheba another son, Solomon, who the LORD renamed Jedidiah, which means loved by the LORD.
Well, ok, that's great. But where do we go from here?
To be continued - Part 3.
Job's unbelievable loss - We are given incredible clarity into this heart-wrenching situation. God gave satan permission to lay Job bare. And in the conversations that follow we see worldviews collide until all are silenced by the surpassing sovereignty of God. Job confesses, "I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted. Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Even though Job had spoken of God what was right, his knowledge needed expanding.
David's tragic fall - Like the rest of the people in the Bible, David was real. Every time I read his account I feel like shouting at the movie screen, "No, David, NO!" But he's just like us. The question really becomes, what do we do with our failures? Our guilt? David took his sin and shame and laid them at God's feet, along with the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, because he believed in a God of unfailing love with the power, authority, and desire to forgive sins, cleanse completely, and restore joy in Him. David suffered the consequences of his sin. But God demonstrated His incredible grace by giving Bathsheba another son, Solomon, who the LORD renamed Jedidiah, which means loved by the LORD.
Well, ok, that's great. But where do we go from here?
To be continued - Part 3.
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