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Heb 5:7-8 - In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. NASU
They have this view of God that He is sitting up in Heaven watching every move His creation is making down here on earth and when they commit a sin He deals out retribution or punishment upon them. If you really think about this view of suffering God would not be doing anything except punishing His creation because we all sin and fall short of His glory. Some also judge your type of suffering. If you have a little financial set back then your sin wasn't that great and God is trying to get you back on the straight and narrow. However, if you are really suffering or something has happened to one of your young children then your sin must have been a horrible one as can be seen in this next scripture text: John 9:1-3 - As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;… NASU HELLO! Did you read what Jesus said, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;…" But you can see the disciples believed that this man's blindness was caused by someone's sins. What they wanted to know was this man being punished with blindness because of his sins or his parent's sins. Jesus answers their question with these words, "It was neither…" If you have ever read the book of Job then you realize this was the exact view that Job's friends all believed. Job was suffering because of some sin he had committed and if he would confess it then his sufferings would go away. Although, this is a popular view by many I believe it to be incorrect many times. It was not correct in Job's situation and it certainly isn't correct in our scripture text this morning.
Another scripture to help us understand this verse is found in Philippians 2:8 - "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." As a man, Jesus was going to learn how to die on that cross or He was going to experience death as a man. He could never experience death as God because God can't die. God is life. One of the best things we can do when we are suffering in any way is ask ourselves this question: What can I learn from my sufferings? Do not allow yourself to get caught up into the negative cycle of asking yourself, "Why am I suffering?" The purpose in my mind for suffering is to teach us some things we could never learn without these sufferings. The best way to deal with suffering of any kind in my mind is to ask yourself the question, "What can I learn from this situation?" Think on These: We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. A person who looks up to God will not look down on people Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Exodus 3:7 - The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. NASU
What James is telling us is God, our Heavenly Father, doesn't change. He isn't one way today and changes tomorrow. There is "no variation" with God. He is dependable. We can trust Him. This is also true of Jesus, the Son of God, as the apostle Paul tells us in the book of Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. I have been asked to preach at the congregation where Barbara and I worship in May. The message I am going to share is about what it means to have Jesus in your boat (or life) from Luke 8:22f. One of my take away points is this with Jesus in your boat be prepared for storms. His disciples came to Him and said, "Master, Master, we are perishing." Some of these men were fishermen. They made their living on the Sea of Galilee. How many storms do you think they had previously encountered? Yet, this time they tell Him we are about to die. It had to have been a very difficult storm for them to believe they were all going to die.
I guarantee it. God not only sees your sufferings, but He is the One who will never forsake you. He saw the sufferings of the Israelites and He sees yours. He is the One you want to turn to in times of trouble. He is the One who sees what we are going through, hears our prayers, and answers them. God is Faithful and we must remain faithful to Him. Think About This: Faith helps us face the music, even when we don't like the tune. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Prov. 24:16 - "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,..."
A study of Proverbs will reveal the way to overcome adversity is to get back up after you have had your encounter with adversity.
It may have been an illness, a medical set back such as a torn ACL, a rejection of your resume, failure to accomplish a set goal, a divorce or the death of a loved one. There are thousands of ways to get knocked down but if we intend on overcoming adversity we must get back up and re-enter the race. We must get back up on our own two feet and start again.
For some, it would be a conversation with someone that you respect, or watching a movie or reading about other people who overcame adversities. Are you one that is able to motivate yourself? Or are you the kind who will graciously allow others to help motivate you? It doesn't matter which method works for you. What matters is in order to overcome adversity you will get back up and move forward with another plan and a new head full of ideas.
Every time you get knocked down by life you get back up on your feet and start all over again.
I always ask myself "What". What can I learn from this trial? I then write down the things that I can learn and allow these to help motivate me positively to keep moving forward to accomplish my goal. If you ask "Why" you may never be able to determine if the answers you come up with are true. If you're knocked down get back up and you'll be glad you did. If you meet some events that knock you down in life then plan on getting back up and re-engaging. This is the correct way to overcome adversity. Think On These: The difficulties of life are to make us better - not bitter. Say what you will about trouble; it always gives us something to talk about. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Job 1:12 - Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:4-6 Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. "However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face." So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life." NASU
Job 1:8-11 - The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face." At different stages of our life, we can be sure God's adversary (satan) will want to inflict some type of suffering into our lives. In the case of Job, we can see his sufferings were financial, family, religious, marital and health. They all came upon him immediately and without any warning signs. I studied the book of Job a few years back and arrived at numerous conclusions but the one that sticks with me the most is this: Job suffered because the LORD had faith in him. The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job?..."
Yeah, I didn't think so. It isn't generally my first thought either. BUT, it is true. The LORD has faith in us. He has given us His Word which is able to strengthen us to endure any temptation. Here is how the apostle Paul penned it down: 1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. God has faith in us. Any temptation we face has been faced by others before us. God also makes us two promises, the first promise is He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and the second promise is He will provide us a way of escape in order for us to endure the temptation. Therefore, when you find yourself suffering or being tempted, keep looking for the way to escape. It is there. You must remain calm and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you God's plan of escape for you. Think About This: A person falls into temptation because he is unwilling to stand up against it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Rom. 8:18 - "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." NASU
We all are going to suffer in this world. We may suffer physically, mentally, or emotionally, but we will all suffer in some way. It really doesn't matter how we suffer. What matters is how we deal with our sufferings when they come. The way I picture this scene is this way: first visualize a set of scales. On the one side we place all of our present sufferings and on the other side you place your future glory of being in Heaven. KABOOM! The side with your future glory being much heavier immediately forces the pan down and your sufferings go flying off of the other side. Paul is basically saying that, our present sufferings in this life are not worthy to be compared with our future eternal glory in heaven. When you suffer please remember to compare your sufferings with your future reward of being in God's glory, Heaven. The apostle John said it this way: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." Revel. 21:1-4 NASU
On the other hand with God our glory is eternal. There will be no end to our glory. It is a no brainer. When you are suffering compare them to eternal glory with God in Heaven. There really is no comparison. Think On These: People always get into trouble when they think they can handle their lives without God. God isn't just a present help in time of trouble, but a great help in keeping us out of trouble. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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