Living Above Your Earthly Trials!
Life on planet earth can often be injurious to many of its inhabitants. It frequently hurls its indignities on individuals, families, and entire nations. All these come from varied sources and impact each person differently.
While there are situations one cannot avoid, in many other cases a person has the ability to prevent unpleasant circumstances from developing and taking hold in one’s life, to effect unnecessary damages.
For any child of God there’s always the comfort of knowing that they are strangers and pilgrims on earth; the world is not their permanent home; they are resident aliens in it. Christians are journeying to a better and eternal country!
A greater comfort, still, is the assurance that whatever happens to us of good or of ill, Jesus Christ is Lord; He remains in control of all situations and can alter any circumstance. People cannot be vaccinated against certain blows which may violently assail them, but one can live prepared in advance, should these ever occur.
That’s why God has provided His blueprint for living, a map for life’s journey, a safe guideline to be victorious even amid all life’s trials. All this is available in the pages of the Bible, God’s Holy Word!
The apostle Paul described some of the adversities he encountered during his Christian trajectory, being able to reach triumphant outcomes. To the Corinthians, he enthused: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (II Corinthians 4:8-9).
If you ever encounter less or more than St. Paul has described, the divine resources available to him then, remain the same today, and are always at your disposal.
God may not deliver you from the experience of many of those indignities, but He will always keep you from defeat. Obstacles and hurts in life should never cause you to stall permanently; they just represent signposts, indicating the better route ahead in which you must proceed!
In his classic volume, “Markings,” the late Dag Hammarskjold - Swedish diplomat and past Secretary-General of the United Nations - left a challenging observation: “Life demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible - not to have run away.”
Putting yourself above life’s indignities is not to hide you from them, nor avoid their impact. It’s simply to keep you from being overwhelmed or dominated by them. For God’s sake, and by His grace, His children can be “more than conquerors” in any adverse situation! Wherever you are, and whatever you may undergo, His mercies abound! His promises shall never fail!
November 6th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Once again, great wisdom from Dr. Lyra. II Cor. 4:8-9 is one of my personal favorite passages. It gave me strength after September 11.
As I continue on this Christian walk, I’ve come to find that trials are a given and that it’s our response to them, rather than the trials themselves, that help us grow.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Yes, Dr. Lyra I am in agreement with you in all that you have said. Suffering is something that we all must endure and to different degrees.
Job said it best I think when in Chapter 13 Verse 15 he states ” Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. ”
We are called to suffer.
To work out ends of righteousness and love are you called; not merely to enjoy or suffer.- S.R. Hirsch, “Nineteen Letters,” 1836
When you are a born again believer and you have pain and suffering that is so deep it truly brings you to kiss the feet of Hope and Grace.
Only Jesus can touch the hurt it is only him that can soothe the pain.
Suffering is precious; it is a divine covenant.- Jonathan, Mekilta, to Exodus It is precious however when we are in the midst the hurt that we experience seems far from precious at that moment we long just to be with Jesus, just to be with Him.
It is through Prayer and supplication that trials disappear. A wrestling with God.
Remember no pressure no diamonds !
In HIS grip and grace …