Monday, April 21,
2014, 6:39 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “What The Lord Says.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 (NIV).
In All Our Troubles
Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our
comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort
and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in
you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is
firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you
share in our comfort.
God comforts us
What kinds of troubles are you presently facing? First of
all I should ask, do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Are you walking in
fellowship with him? Are you suffering for your faith in him and your testimony
for him? In context, I believe this is the type of suffering of which Paul is
speaking here. He and the other apostles were facing hardship, persecution,
false accusations, beatings, false arrests and even threats against their own
lives, i.e. they were sharing in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Yet,
could other types of sufferings be implied here, as well? Certainly, for Paul
used such phrases as “all our troubles,” and “any trouble.” As well, I believe
there can be various types of comfort we receive based upon the type of
suffering we are going through, though there may be commonalities, as well.
The word translated as “trouble” in the NIV means “persecution,
affliction, distress, tribulation; properly, pressure (what constricts or rubs
together), used of a narrow place that ‘hems someone in’; tribulation,
especially internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined (restricted, ‘without
options’)” (http://biblehub.com/greek/2347.htm).
I’ve been there. I suspect you have, too. Yet, Jesus cares about all our
afflictions, poverty, trials, tribulations, hardships, sorrow and pain. He is
even concerned with those troubles brought upon our lives via our own stubborn
wills and sinful behaviors. This is why I believe that our “comfort” can be
varied depending upon the source or type of suffering we are going through, for
the word “comfort” actually means “exhort, entreat, beseech, encourage and/or
admonish” (http://biblehub.com/greek/3870.htm).
Sometimes he comforts us with words of reassurance, peace, wisdom and hope, and
other times he comforts us with words of reproof, caution, and warning, yet still
he offers forgiveness and restoration, i.e. hope.
We comfort others
Jesus/God comforts us because he loves us, and he wants what
is best for us. He also comforts us so that we may encourage others with the
same admonishment and/or reassurance we have received from the Lord.
I believe with all my heart that scripture teaches that God
had a plan and a purpose for my life from even before I was made in my mother’s
womb. I believe, as well, that God is absolutely sovereign over all things, and
that he placed me in the family where he put me, that he took me places where
he wanted me to go, and that he allowed certain circumstances, in particular
tribulations, in my life in order to shape and to mold me into the person he
created me to be, so that I could be used of him in the lives of other people
who are going through similar situations as what I have experienced in my life.
I believe I would not be here writing out what the Lord
Jesus teaches me each day had I not gone through some of the things I have
experienced in my life. Had I not traveled a difficult road, it might have been
too easy to turn back when the going got rough. I was faced with much
rejection, abuse, neglect, misunderstandings, false judgments, and persecution
from early on in my life, which has continued throughout the course of my life.
Yet, God did not leave me comfortless. He provided his word, himself, spiritual
songs and other people along the way to encourage, strengthen and counsel me;
to love me and to show me affection; yet also to be honest with me in love. I
needed both types of encouragement. Yet, I also had times in my life when I
failed God miserably, when I yielded to my flesh, and when I ran for comfort in
other things that were not of God because I lacked faith and trust in God to
work in those circumstances for his glory. Yet, he never gave up on me. He brought
me back, renewed my faith, put me back on the right path, and chose to use me
once more.
He Will Deliver Us
We
do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we
experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond
our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we
had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on
ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a
deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he
will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will
give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the
prayers of many.
No matter what kind of suffering we may be experiencing,
whether our trials are truly “light and momentary” troubles by contrast to the difficult
sufferings of others, or we are at the point of despairing of life, feeling
there is no hope, our God allows these in our lives so that we learn to not
rely upon ourselves, but to put our trust in God. Sad to say, but many times it
is in the difficulties of life that we learn to place our trust solely in God,
to put our hope in him, and to draw on his strength and comfort. When things
are going well for us, we can easily become self-consumed, busy with what
pleases us, and we can become negligent in continuing in our love relationships
with Jesus Christ, even to the point of totally ignoring him. So, he permits us
to go through hardships so that we do call upon him and so we do learn to draw
on his strength, comfort, counsel, encouragement, direction and teaching.
As well, he promises us deliverance, not necessarily from
the difficulties of life, especially since he tells us that we are destined for
such things, and that they serve a purpose in our lives, but that through them
he will be with us, will carry us, will comfort us, heal us, show us his love and
care for us, and he will use us in the lives of others because of what we have
had to endure for the sake of his name.
I can attest to the fact that God does deliver in many ways.
Sometimes he just releases us from the fear of circumstances, and he fills us
with his peace. Oftentimes, he shows us the way out of our troubles, or he
directs us in the way we should go so that we do not give in to them, and so we
do not let them get the best of us. Other times he fills us with promises of
hope and healing for the future, even while we are walking through the valley
of the shadow of death in the here and now. And, yet other times he intervenes
miraculously on our behalf in fighting off our enemies and in giving us
physical deliverance from harm.
Yet, no matter which way he chooses to rescue us in any
given circumstance, what is true is that he is always with us, he will never
leave us or forsake those who are truly his, he will continue to lead, guide,
counsel, love, and protect us from the evil one; and he will sustain us,
strengthen us, and give us endurance and perseverance to keep on keeping on,
and to never ever give up hope! Amen!
What the Lord Says
/ An Original Work
February 24, 2014 /
Based off Isaiah 43:1-44:5
This is what the Lord
says to you:
Fear not, for I have
chosen you.
I have summoned you by
your name.
You are mine. I died,
you to save.
When you go through
your trials, so deep,
I will be with you;
you will not sink.
You are so precious
always to me.
Trust in your Lord,
Savior and King.
This is what the Lord
says to you:
He who gave salvation
to you;
Who delivered you from
your sin;
Takes your burdens now
upon Him:
Forget the former
things of your life.
Give of your heart not
now up to strife.
See all the new things
I have for you.
Walk in vict’ry. Trust
in what’s true.
This is what the Lord
says to you:
He who made you; who
will help you:
Do not fear what
humans may do.
Walk in freedom.
Follow what’s true.
Drink of my Spirit
given for you.
Trust in my mercy, for
I love you.
I have a plan for all
of your life.
Follow my ways. Do
what is right.
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