God Thinking 58 - Getting Beyond Yourself 7

"Lord, do I need to go through something, that I might see you more clearly?

God has allowed you and continues to allow you to go through some things - things that you are not comfortable with.

• Some of you are going to go through financial hardship
• Some of you are going to go through sickness
• Some of you are going to lose loved ones.

2 Corinthians 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Even though God did not bring about the loss, the mistakes, the tragedy, the trouble, the problem or the sickness - rather than take you out of it (and God could) God, quite often decides to takes you through it. 

When you get this truth about how God operates in you and through you settled in your spirit, you will look at those things that you go through, differently.

Could it be that God utilizes this season of lack, or the loss of a loved one or the sickness you are going through to reveal more of Himself to you?  Could it be that God allows these seasons to bring you to a place where you start to look to God and trust in God for your substance, your life, your everything? 

Could it be that God allows the death of His saints to show you the frailty of life and the short time you have to fulfill His will in your life?

Could it be that through sickness God reveals an attribute of Himself that increases your faith?

Most of us who have been walking with God for a season have found out that God uses times like these to reveal another attribute of Himself to us, an attribute that we had not carefully considered prior to that experience.

It is not true, that if you have enough faith, you will never have problems. Faith is to carry you through, not keep you out of.

But faith goes deeper than that. The more you trust in God, the more you understand God’s role in your life and your role in God’s plan. 

The more you trust in God - the better prepared you are for whatever comes your way and what comes your way is better.

Don’t fall for the rhetoric that says, “Christians don’t have financial problems; Christians don’t have problems that arise unexpectedly. If you have faith you won't get sick.

It is because these things happen to the faithful that it is so important for us to be in contact with God, (through prayer) and to be in agreement with God as to how to deal with (whatever comes up).

The reason why so many things seem like the aren’t going right is because of false teaching, i. e., (that Christians who are serving God faithfully are free from the results of the (fall of man).  It is not true.

At the same time, many of us have brought on to ourselves much despair.  Many problems are self-inflicted and there are consequences to bad choices that follow us for a time.

Some of us are still actively cultivating an experience that will turn out to cause unnecessary trouble and heartache.

For those things that you bring on to yourself, the only cure is to put an end to the vicious cycle by confessing the problem/sin/indiscretion and repenting of it, and then (turning the problem around, instead of turning your back on the people that are trying to help you out of your problem.)

Excerpt from God Thinking 58 - Getting Beyond Yourself by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2012