One of the biggest speed bumps to understanding God can be your encounters with pain and suffering. The hurts you experience may stem from rejection or abuse, sorrow and loss, fears and failures, setbacks and confrontations, chronic illness and pain - the list is long. All hurt for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes God’s hand of comfort and His compassion toward you in your pain and sorrow is so wonderful you can’t describe it. He appears on the scene of your calamity with assistance and provision and you stand in awe of His presence. At other times, however, He seems distant and disinterested, like He’s moved and hasn’t left a forwarding address. He has all the power and provision necessary to lighten your misery but He doesn’t seem to be lifting a finger to come to your rescue.
It’s at times like that when your faith is tested. Your cries for help seem to go unanswered; your thirst for answers unquenched. If you’re not careful you can become fearful and disillusioned with God when you’re hurting."I cannot find God anywhere -- in front or back of me, to my left or my right. God is always at work, though I never see him." Job 23:8,9
Have you ever had an experience like Job’s? Have you had those times when you searched for God and you couldn’t find Him? You knew He was at work but you had no immediate indication that He was doing anything to come to your rescue in the midst of your pain?
No one cares more about you than God does! In every area of your life He is vitally interested and He doesn’t turn His back on you when you’re going through pain. Instead, He is able to take your pain and suffering and turn it around into some very positive results!
"But he knows what I am doing, and when he tests me, I will be pure as gold." Job 23:10. What tests have you been experiencing lately? Do you think nothing good can come of them? If you don’t think so, think again!
Testing has the potential to burn out your impurities. Difficulties are part of God’s refining process. Your pain is often the fire that makes you better. And as you become a better person, you experience more of the joy and fulfillment in life that God created you to experience. You become more and more like Jesus. And as I become more and more like Jesus - God can bless you to a greater degree.
Sometimes God’s hand of comfort and His compassion toward you in your pain and sorrow is so wonderful you can’t describe it. He appears on the scene of your calamity with assistance and provision and you stand in awe of His presence. At other times, however, He seems distant and disinterested, like He’s moved and hasn’t left a forwarding address. He has all the power and provision necessary to lighten your misery but He doesn’t seem to be lifting a finger to come to your rescue.
It’s at times like that when your faith is tested. Your cries for help seem to go unanswered; your thirst for answers unquenched. If you’re not careful you can become fearful and disillusioned with God when you’re hurting."I cannot find God anywhere -- in front or back of me, to my left or my right. God is always at work, though I never see him." Job 23:8,9
Have you ever had an experience like Job’s? Have you had those times when you searched for God and you couldn’t find Him? You knew He was at work but you had no immediate indication that He was doing anything to come to your rescue in the midst of your pain?
No one cares more about you than God does! In every area of your life He is vitally interested and He doesn’t turn His back on you when you’re going through pain. Instead, He is able to take your pain and suffering and turn it around into some very positive results!
"But he knows what I am doing, and when he tests me, I will be pure as gold." Job 23:10. What tests have you been experiencing lately? Do you think nothing good can come of them? If you don’t think so, think again!
Testing has the potential to burn out your impurities. Difficulties are part of God’s refining process. Your pain is often the fire that makes you better. And as you become a better person, you experience more of the joy and fulfillment in life that God created you to experience. You become more and more like Jesus. And as I become more and more like Jesus - God can bless you to a greater degree.
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