Unjust Suffering

Do you ever just want to run away from your circumstances? Or, do you call out to God in your suffering, and beg for deliverance from it all? The pain of all you are going through just seems so overwhelming, and so you want relief. You want it all to be over, gone, done away with. And, yet it lingers.

Everything That Hinders

Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Sometimes God does give us physical relief from our suffering and physical deliverance from our enemies; our opposition. But, other times he strengthens us through what he has allowed us to experience, because he is working in our hearts and lives through it all; through the suffering and the opposition and the persecution. So, sometimes he says “Go, depart,” while other times he says, “Stay, endure, and I will strengthen you and help you.”

One of Satan’s greatest weapons against us is to instill fear in our hearts – fear of our circumstances and of people and of what they might do to us, or fear of having to endure even more or greater suffering. Yet, if we give way to this fear, it can hinder us in our walks of faith. So, we must throw off Satan’s attempts at getting us to be afraid, and we must submit our lives to our Lord, and allow him to work his will in our hearts and lives to accomplish his purposes. One day he will deliver us from it all, but that time may not be yet, so we must rest in him, yield to his sovereignty, and wait on HIM.

Instead of focusing our minds and attention on our trials and tribulations, we must keep our minds fixed on Jesus, and on what he is doing in and through us because of or in spite of all that we are going through. And, we must follow his example. The joy set before him was the salvation of human lives. And, that is what is set before us, too. If we endure persecution for righteousness’ sake, and we keep on obeying our Lord, while resisting Satan, God will use us in the lives of others to advance his gospel message. Thus, we must be willing to endure unjust suffering if it means the salvation of human lives out of the pit of hell, brought into God’s eternal kingdom.

The Lord’s Discipline

Hebrews 12:4-11 NIV

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

When we are going through difficult times, which may last a lifetime, and not be something just momentary, there may be times when we weary of it all, and we just want to be rescued. After all, we read verses in the Bible which speak of God delivering us from our enemies, and yet we don’t see deliverance, but everything keeps going on as it was. And, so we begin to lose heart, and we get discouraged, and we just want to escape it all.

But, God doesn’t always deliver us from our enemies or from unjust suffering in this life, though he may, at times. He will deliver us through our troubles, though, in that he will give us strength, endurance, hope, healing, assurances, and victory over our enemy. And, through it all, which is for our good, God is making us holy, and he is conforming us to his likeness. And, the hardships he takes us through then produce a harvest of righteousness and peace in our lives, when we allow God to change us through our troubles, instead of us just wanting to run away from them all.

So many people think that God does not allow or cause troubles to come into our lives, but he does, and he does this for his purposes, to purify our hearts, to mature us in our walks of faith, to grow us in him, and to make us into the people of God he wants us to be, to be used for his purposes. He takes what Satan means for evil, and he uses it to accomplish his good.

Strengthen Weak Knees

Hebrews 12:12-13 NIV

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

“Weak knees” is a phrase used to describe fear, anxiety, worry. Fear is the opposite of faith. Getting on our knees has to do with submission to God. So, this is an encouragement to not give way to fear, but to strengthen our faith, which is weakened by a response of fear to difficult and troubling situations in our lives.

We strengthen what is weak, thus, by yielding to the Lordship of Christ over our lives, by putting our lives in his hands, and by resting in HIM. We trust him with our circumstances and with the people in our lives, and we ask the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our every step. And, we don’t give way to fear, but we continue to believe God, that he is in control, and that he will work everything out for good for us who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. He will never leave us or forsake us.

Your Lord is With You

An Original Work / August 14, 2016

Based off Various Scriptures

Fear not for your Lord is with you.

He will not leave you, nor will He abandon you.

When you walk through valleys of life’s rough ways,

You must fear no evil, for God is near.

Be of courage, then, and be not dismayed,

For your Lord is with you throughout your days.

Fear not for your Lord is with you.

He will not leave you, nor will He abandon you.

Trust Him with your life and witness.

He’ll go before you, and He will prepare the way.

The Lord is our helper, so we’ll not fear.

He will strengthen us. He sees all our tears.

Do not be afraid, but to God do pray,

And the peace of God will be yours today.

Trust Him with your life and witness.

He’ll go before you, and He will prepare the way.

My God, He is my Rock and my Shield

And the Horn of my salvation, whom I praise.

He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

Drew me out of waters so deep I’d sink.

My God turned my darkness into His light;

Opened up my blinded eyes, gave me sight.

My God, He is my Rock and my Shield

And the Horn of my salvation, whom I praise.

https://vimeo.com/178977106

Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 4:57 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these encouraging words and for this godly counsel. Help us, Lord, to endure unjust suffering. Work Your will in our hearts, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!