Sunday, April 3, 2011

Praise Him Through the Fire

Have you ever had one of those moments when you prayed and God answered you immediately?  This is what happened to me right now!  When I asked God what I should write about, He answered me immediately.  A few days ago I wrote about praise, today I am going to write about pain....about trials in our life.  Pain comes knocking at every one's door at some time or another.  Pain shows up in many different forms. I believe how we respond to the pain that comes into our lives is very important.  I am not the author of that statement.  God has given us instruction all throughout His Word on how we are to respond to pain- This tells us that He cares about how we respond to our trials.  Let's go to the Word of God and let Scripture speak.

I love the Old Testament for it often reveals a lot about the life of someone.  As we read, we feel like we really get to know the person for we read about their happy times and their sad times, their victories over sin and their mess ups.  Good or bad, pretty or ugly, we read it all.

I want us to take a look at a Biblical character that most everyone knows at least a little bit about, the man called Job.

The book starts with high praise for Job- He was a good man that feared God and stayed away from evil- That is Job 1:1 in a nutshell.  But what transpires from there is something we are privy to but Job is not.  We are given "behind the scenes" info about what was transpiring between God and Satan.  This is something that Job knows nothing about.

In the first chapter we read that Job loses his property and his children.  This all happens in rapid sequence, for we read that before one man can finish delivering his bad news, another one is there waiting to tell Job more bad news.   Job's response:  Job 1:21-22 (NKJV) "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

The second chapter doesn't get any better.  We read about Job losing his health.  He develops painful sores all over his body and finds himself sitting in the midst of ashes, attempting to relieve his pain by scraping his self with a broken piece of pottery.  As if that wasn't bad enough, Job's wife is probably starting to feel very overwhelmed and scared by all this, she has had all that she feels she could take.  She goes to her husband and expresses her frustration and questions with God and encourages Job to curse God and die (Job 2:9).  Job's response to his wife:  "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.  Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?"  In all this Job did not sin with his lips.  (Job 2: 10)


The second chapter also reveals that the friends of Job really failed him at a time when they could have been a source of encouragement.  They came to comfort him and they probably were sincere.  The Bible says in Job 2:13 : "So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great."    However, once they opened their mouth it was all downhill.

This is only the first two chapters!  A man who was walking on the pathway of pain, redecorating it into a pathway of praise.

So we will stop here with Job.  We have read about and learned from a man that lived out a New Testament verse that had not even been written yet- I want to take you to that verse.  Lets go to James 1:2: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials."  Lets stop there.

I want to share with you what the Holy Spirit said to me as I read these verses

While we don't always want to accept this fact, we must....we must understand that we can wear the garment of praise even when pain is present in our lives.  Not only can we wear the garment of praise, but we are commanded to do so.   It is not to be a fake sort of praise, but a heart felt praise to the One who has promised to see us through.

1.  Trials prepare us for our purpose-  Silver and gold are purified in the hottest fires.  It is such a delicate process that the refiner of such precious material does not leave their side as they go though the process of purification.  The  best fruit comes from a field that has been plowed and the hard ground broken up.  Before the seed is planted, the ground is readied.  Down the road it reaps a pleasant and profitable harvest.

God has a purpose for us and He wants only the very best for us.  He strives to continually conform us more and more to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Friend, that is a process- but just like the refiner, He never leaves our side as we go through the process and His hand is the hand that controls the thermostat of the furnace.

What is the purpose of our trials- Job said it perfectly - Turn to Job 23:10 "But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold."  God's end result for us is the best, the most precious of metals- He wants us to become as gold!



2. Problems pave the way for the power of God to be put on display  -  The power of God is magnified to us  as we go through trials.  In my illness I have seen first hand the power of God as He tends to me, His sheep.  But, what is also great is that His power is made evident to those around God's sheep.  His power may be displayed through a divine miracle of healing, or, in what we think of as a less grander scale,  His provision for us financially or His encouragement, His empowering us with strength, His lifting of our head.  There are times in my life experiences or in testimony of others, that those around us witness such power and end up coming to a saving faith because of what they witnessed! God's power was displayed so perfectly 3days after the most horrific pain one could ever endure- the crucifixion of His Son on an old rugged cross! God resurrected His Son from the grave!

3. Problems prepare us for ministry- The greatest Christian warriors we have read about from the days of the Bible to the very present day have come through the path of pain.  They made it and have successfully ran their race because they turned the path of pain into a path of praise. If you look at the ministry of Abraham, Joseph, King David, Joshua, Daniel, John the Baptist, the 12 disciples, the Apostle Paul, Billy Graham, Joni Erikson Tada  and of course, the greatest one, our Lord Jesus Christ all have had great ministries but not without their share of intense pain.  These are countless others who could testify to the same.  They took the path of pain and turned it into a path of praise.  Do you want to know why God came down in flesh and dwelt among us through the person Jesus Christ,   Do you want to know why for 3 years Jesus emptied Himself of all of His rights to become 100% man, while yet remaining 100% God?  Do you want to know why He endured pain and suffering when He could have walked away from it all?

  Scriptures tells us in Hebrews 4:15: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 

 Jesus suffered so He could relate to us.  Our pain, if we let it, can be used to minister to others as we relate to them in their pain.

If you read the Psalms you will continually read the Psalms of David as he took his path of pain and turned it into a path of praise.

How do we do this?

1.)  It takes a conscious effort- It takes surrendering it to God and being willing to leave it with God.
2.) It takes determination to know the Word of God- not just head knowledge but more importantly...heart knowledge.
3.)  It takes fellowship with our Heavenly Father- When we get to know the Father, we will gain a more intimate friendship with Him.  As we learn more about His character we will understand why we have reason to praise Him even when we are in pain.
4.)  It takes a voice that is quick to proclaim His praise and His message to others.- As we speak of God and His Son, Jesus Christ we will find our own faith increasing and thereby we will find ourselves walking on a path of pain but paving over the path of pain with praise.

Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning! (Psalm 30:5)




I am going through some difficult circumstances these days.  I also know that I am not alone.  The world is a mess and the path of pain is a path well trodden by countless others.  For the child of God, please understand this:
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)- "being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

If you are in the furnace take heart that Jesus is there, His hand on the thermostat and if we count it all joy, we will come forth as gold!

To God be the glory