"[B]ut man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7, ESV).
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19, KJV).
"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold" (Job 23:10, ESV).
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him" (Philippians 1:29, NIV).
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance character..." (Romans 5:3-4, ESV).
"For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow [" for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men," ESV]" (Lamentations 3:33, NLT).
"... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? ..." (Job 2:10, NLT).
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty" (Job 5:17, NIV).
"Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law" (Psalm 94:2, ESV).
"I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times..." (Isaiah 45:7,
NLT).
Christians would be wise to heed the Word of God and pay attention to their elders and teachers, much more their parents as children, because they stand in loco Dei [in the place of God]! We learn to rebel and question authority at a very young age and we all lose faith at some time in those that deserve our respect. If we don't learn our lessons the easy way from Scripture, we will learn the hard way in the school of hard knocks! We all do need backup training in the on-the-job-training (OJT) of real-life--this may be the dog-eat-dog world, the rat race, or the law of the jungle with the survival of the fittest, but we should be assured that when we go through the fire we will not be overwhelmed according to Isaiah 43:2, ESV: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience [and the Word, of course], but shouts to us in our pains," C. S.. Lewis has said. There are no shortcuts, easy paths, nor simple formulae to follow to maturity--no magic formula or Eightfold Path [of Enlightenment] either like Buddha taught. No matter how many noble truths we think of we cannot save ourselves nor find the truth. We all learn by discipline as God is putting us through the crucible of life as one does a piece of silver, refining it till one sees himself in the reflection.
Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it has been said, but note that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay, some people become bitter, and some better because of the same event--God knows what is best for us and what we can handle. Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and our crosses pale in comparison--He doesn't expect anything of us He didn't accomplish or endure; suffering, trials, temptations, adversity, trouble, and discipline are inevitable! This is par for the course!
There are pitfalls to life and God doesn't promise us a bed of roses or a rose garden. We learn from our mistakes and hardships, not our successes and prosperity. Trials are a learning experience that we should welcome as friends that teach us the basics of life--the facts of life. If we don't learn from the Bible, we will learn one way or another, probably by our mistakes and failures. We will learn that making plans without God in them is vain and futile. We don't bring our plans to God for His approval but seek His will in all we do.
Our life is but a pilgrimage or spiritual journey that is meant to glorify God and mold us in the image of Christ. Just like a sculptor makes a horse from a slab of marble by taking away everything that doesn't resemble the horse, God is taking away everything that doesn't look like Jesus! There comes a time to apply what we know and get our heads out of the books and step into the real world and learn by trial and error, if not by heeding the Word, how to obey Christ, and abide in His will.
We have matriculated in the school of Christ and discipleship is largely discipline, accountability, and acceptance of authority. God is determined to make us Christlike--it comes with the territory! We cannot opt-out of discipline--it's a mandatory course and a requisite--"for whom the Lord loves He chastens," and Christians don't get away with anything and God oversees everything--the good news is that everything is Father-filtered, and nothing happens outside His will for our lives. (Note Lam. 3:37, NLT, "Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission?")
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19, KJV).
"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold" (Job 23:10, ESV).
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him" (Philippians 1:29, NIV).
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance character..." (Romans 5:3-4, ESV).
"For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow [" for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men," ESV]" (Lamentations 3:33, NLT).
"... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? ..." (Job 2:10, NLT).
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty" (Job 5:17, NIV).
"Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law" (Psalm 94:2, ESV).
"I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times..." (Isaiah 45:7,
NLT).
Christians would be wise to heed the Word of God and pay attention to their elders and teachers, much more their parents as children, because they stand in loco Dei [in the place of God]! We learn to rebel and question authority at a very young age and we all lose faith at some time in those that deserve our respect. If we don't learn our lessons the easy way from Scripture, we will learn the hard way in the school of hard knocks! We all do need backup training in the on-the-job-training (OJT) of real-life--this may be the dog-eat-dog world, the rat race, or the law of the jungle with the survival of the fittest, but we should be assured that when we go through the fire we will not be overwhelmed according to Isaiah 43:2, ESV: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience [and the Word, of course], but shouts to us in our pains," C. S.. Lewis has said. There are no shortcuts, easy paths, nor simple formulae to follow to maturity--no magic formula or Eightfold Path [of Enlightenment] either like Buddha taught. No matter how many noble truths we think of we cannot save ourselves nor find the truth. We all learn by discipline as God is putting us through the crucible of life as one does a piece of silver, refining it till one sees himself in the reflection.
Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it has been said, but note that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay, some people become bitter, and some better because of the same event--God knows what is best for us and what we can handle. Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and our crosses pale in comparison--He doesn't expect anything of us He didn't accomplish or endure; suffering, trials, temptations, adversity, trouble, and discipline are inevitable! This is par for the course!
There are pitfalls to life and God doesn't promise us a bed of roses or a rose garden. We learn from our mistakes and hardships, not our successes and prosperity. Trials are a learning experience that we should welcome as friends that teach us the basics of life--the facts of life. If we don't learn from the Bible, we will learn one way or another, probably by our mistakes and failures. We will learn that making plans without God in them is vain and futile. We don't bring our plans to God for His approval but seek His will in all we do.
Our life is but a pilgrimage or spiritual journey that is meant to glorify God and mold us in the image of Christ. Just like a sculptor makes a horse from a slab of marble by taking away everything that doesn't resemble the horse, God is taking away everything that doesn't look like Jesus! There comes a time to apply what we know and get our heads out of the books and step into the real world and learn by trial and error, if not by heeding the Word, how to obey Christ, and abide in His will.
We have matriculated in the school of Christ and discipleship is largely discipline, accountability, and acceptance of authority. God is determined to make us Christlike--it comes with the territory! We cannot opt-out of discipline--it's a mandatory course and a requisite--"for whom the Lord loves He chastens," and Christians don't get away with anything and God oversees everything--the good news is that everything is Father-filtered, and nothing happens outside His will for our lives. (Note Lam. 3:37, NLT, "Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission?")
We must not disdain the Lord's corrective discipline: "But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin" (Job 5:17, NLT); "Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?" (Lam. 3:39, NLT). Christ exhorted us to "count the cost"--don't be surprised that your faith must be tested! We will find out by experience that the Christian life is not hard, it's impossible!
One can endure any suffering if one sees purpose and meaning in it--Christianity alone offers this--and we can be assured of what we signed up for: no cross, no crown! God places nothing in our path we cannot handle and cannot learn from. Trials are a vote of confidence from God that He deems us worthy of being tested--if the Lord got you to it, He'll see you through it!
One can endure any suffering if one sees purpose and meaning in it--Christianity alone offers this--and we can be assured of what we signed up for: no cross, no crown! God places nothing in our path we cannot handle and cannot learn from. Trials are a vote of confidence from God that He deems us worthy of being tested--if the Lord got you to it, He'll see you through it!
Jesus wasn't afraid to get His hands dirty doing the Father's work, He joyfully got down and dirty with the so-called scum and outcasts. In summation, when Christ makes the final audit of our lives at the Bema, Tribunal, or Judgment Seat, of Christ will we have accomplished His will for our lives and glorified Him with all our resources, talents, skills, money, opportunities, gifts, relationships, and time management?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Soli Deo Gloria!