Monday, July 14, 2014

Tough Circumstances

       Tough circumstances - they come in all kinds of different ways and from a multitude of sources.
Sometimes they just happen - the health problems or disease that shows up even though you take great care of yourself; the break up of the marriage that you couldn't save no matter what you tried; the job loss that had nothing to do with your performance and everything to do with downsizing the company for a stronger bottom line; or the loss of someone you love because someone else decided to drink alcohol and then get behind the wheel of a car.
Other times hard times are self inflicted - the lung cancer from years of chain-smoking cigarettes; the divorce that came after disregarding your spouse and choosing to have an affair; the job loss because you played Angry Birds at your desk all day instead of doing what you were hired to do; or the time in prison and the knowledge that you destroyed a family because you chose to have a few drinks and then get behind the wheel of a car.
Whatever the cause of our tough circumstances, one thing is for sure - we are all going to face them.
Job (who knew about hard times) said in Job 14:1 "Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble."  The question then follows, "WHY?"  Why is it this way?  If God is all-powerful, and if  He is good, and if Christians are His children, then why doesn't He make our circumstances better?  Why do those who follow him sometimes seem to even suffer more than the rest?
   
       One thing we need to remember is that we live in a fallen, sinful world. This is NOT the happy place, and much of our disappointment and even our suffering comes from our failed attempts to make this world the happy place. With a desire for the "good life", we make career choices, relationship choices, consumer choices, and leisure choices, all of which begin with the promise and hope of happiness and fulfillment, but so many times leave us empty and disillusioned.
       Another reason we suffer is that we have an enemy who wants to devour us (1 Peter 5:8).  He wants to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Understanding the schemes of the devil helps us understand some of the reasons that we suffer.  He tempts us to sin so we will receive the consequences of our sin (so stop giving into temptation and you will have fewer trials).  He attacks us through circumstances to try to bring about a desired response. Sometimes he attacks to try make us bitter at God.  Sometimes he brings hardship to make us believe that doing life God's way is keeping us from being happy. Sometimes he tries to make us believe the trial we face is all our fault so that we see ourselves as worthless failures instead of "more than conquerers", as he tried to do through Job's friends. He tries to get our focus off of God and His kingdom and the things we are called to be and do, and to get our attention focused on the tough circumstances we are facing at the moment so that we despair.
       While their are many causes for our suffering, the Bible teaches that there is one overarching purpose in everything we go through - to shape us into the image of Christ. While satan has his on purposes, what he means for evil, God means for good.  In chapter 1 of the book of James we are told that we should embrace our various trials - even find JOY in them; not because the circumstance is fun, but because God will use the circumstances to make us complete.  We tend to learn more, to pray more fervently, and to seek God more deeply when things are falling apart around us.  We seem to think that we deserve a trouble free life, so we forget be thankful and to lean on Him when things are going smoothly.  When the troubles come, we immediately begin to cry out to God for help.  Most of the time my prayers tend to ask for deliverance from the trial, and for that deliverance to be now, or at least really soon.
      But what if we prayed differently?  What if we first asked God for wisdom (which James says He gives generously to those who ask)?  If God refines and completes us through the fire of trials, and if God's sole purpose for creating us is to know and glorify Him, what might happen if we embrace the trial as a gift; as an open invitation to know the deep things of God, and as an open door to come into His presence and let Him reveal Himself to us? What if we allowed God to use the trials to help strip us of our love for the things of this world and to see the unsurpassed value of knowing Christ (Philippians 3)?  What if, after God brings us through the tough times, we allow Him to use our experience and wisdom to encourage someone else going through a similar situation? Then we would find purpose in our trials that go way beyond ourselves.
      So, when it comes to tough circumstances, we all agree that they are not fun in themselves. But if "In His presence is the fullness of joy, and at His right hand pleasures forever" (Psalms 16:11b), and if we come into His presence more fervently in the hard times than the easy times, then maybe the hard things can bring the best experiences we can have.  I just hope we can all realize that the very life and joy and fulfillment we are all looking for may not be found by avoiding tough times, but that it might be in the darkest places that those hidden treasures are kept.

May God Bless You In All Circumstances!
Neil

Suggested Reading
James 1:1-5
1 Peter 1:6-9
2 Peter 2:9
Romans 8:26-39

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