HOW DO WE PURSUE GOD THROUGH LIFE'S TRIALS SUCCESSFULLY?
By: Debra Schreiner
How do we pursue God through all of life’s trials successfully? Is anyone really triumphant?
When tragedy strikes; a child dies or a parent or friend, brother or sister, where does your faith
lie? A divorce slams you by surprise, you’re a Christian, and they don’t get divorces, right!
Your finances fall out from under you and now you face bankruptcy! Forget about the
retirement plan, now your plan for retirement is to pray God calls you home before you are too
old and can’t work. Your doctor calls asking to meet with you regarding your test results, and
by the way, the doctor says, “it would be good to bring someone with you.” Wars, rumors of
wars, terrorism affecting the entire world and your child has decided to enlist! Media warnings
about the epidemic of drug abuse, and it appears your child is not only an addict, but furnishes
drugs for a profit to others as well.
Life comes at you hard and fast. How you respond to your personal state of affairs that is the
question. Where does your faith lie in the midst of all the whirlwinds and tempests hurled in
your direction? That is the real test of our faith, and trails prove the integrity of your faith.
James says, in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trails,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What will be the result of
our trials? The desired result of our trails from God’s perspective is that we be continually
transformed into the image of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29)
That is not to say that God is the author or initiator of all tragedy, we live in a sin fallen world,
granted He is also not taken by surprise, and is sovereign over every event, but He allows or
permits certain circumstances to occur in His children’s lives. Just check out the book of Job.
Job lost his wealth, his children, the respect of the community, endured the bad advice of
friends, and his faithful wife advises him to “curse God and die”, apparently she had enough of
Job and felt she would be better off with him dead. All these events came and were allowed into
Job’s life by the very hand of God. Yet Job saw through these events to the end result. In Job
19:25-27, Job says, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His
stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God, Whom I
myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” Job had a heavenly
perspective, no matter what life would hurl at Job, he knew he would be with his God. As we
submit the tragedies and disappointments of our lives to God, He will work through the
circumstances for our transformation to the image of His son Jesus and for His glory and for our
ultimate good.
We can only survive the onslaught of trials through keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the
sovereign Lord of the universe. God has promised to work all things out for our good, to
conform us to the image of His Son. Do we believe that, or do we act like those who have no
hope? Whining, complaining, destitute, irritable, belligerent, the list obviously could go on and
on. How do we stay steadfast and immovable as Paul commanded the Corinthians in 1
Corinthians 15:58? “ Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing the your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
It is not an easy process, in fact it is hard work, capitalize that in your mind, HARD WORK! It is
through an act of our will, a discipline of our flesh, to believe God at His Word, against our sinful
nature which questions His plans. By disciplining our lazy flesh to stay immersed in Gods
Word, and I mean immersed to the point you may drown. Regardless of whether you “feel” like
you are getting anything out of His Word or not, disciplining your flesh to seek Him through His
word. You remain steadfastly in the Word of God reading and praying over His Word. Seeking
His blessing through the prayerful study and meditation of His Holy Word. Jacob wrestled
against the angel of the Lord all night, he refused to let go until he was blessed. And God did
bless Him, and gave him a new name, instead of Jacob which meant “deceiver” his new name
would be Israel which means “God fights,” his new name would remind him and others of this
fight where Jacob, now named Israel, had overcome. That wrestling and subsequent blessing
became a significant promise for the nation’s forthcoming struggles, and their ability to
overcome. We also have to struggle and wrestle through our problems with God, for only
through Him will we overcome. God will be faithful to us. Always we need to be alert to be
praying, meditating on His word, beseeching God for His help in the midst of our trials, seeking
other Christians to hold us up against the tide of grief and sorrows.
It is a daily discipline, we have to beat our bodies into subjection to be obedient to seek His
face. (1 Corinthians 12:9-10) There are times when we can’t wait to pray, or read God’s word,
or fellowship at church to worship with other believers, and then there are the times when we
isolate and withdraw from God and others. If we choose, and it is a choice, to withdraw from
God, His Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, we will reap discouragement,
disillusionment, cynicism etc….. the downward spiral will continue on. The repercussions of
turning away from God and inward toward our fleshly desires, instead of turning toward God
and away from our sin filled flesh could fill a multitude of books. But then the quest is not to
know how to turn away from God towards selfishness, we do that with no problem, our desire, if
we are truly believers is to stay close to our Father at all times. This, as I stated earlier, is
always an act of our will. We crucify our flesh and its desires to whine and complain and we
choose to trust God when all hope appears to be gone. Sounds simple, right? Just, “Turn your
eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.” Simple, yes, but profoundly true and tough to keep our
focus fixated when our world tilts seemingly out of control. But that is where we must stay fixed,
with our eyes on Him, for most assuredly He is our only hope.
How can we accomplish this? Again, we need to know our God. Who He is. What is His
character? What are His attributes? How does He work out His will? The only way to know
the answers to these questions is to read the “letters” God wrote to us. God used ordinary men
who worshiped Him to declare what He wanted us to understand about His will and purposes,
these men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. We need to put consistent time
and thought, into reading and meditating on His word, studying the guidebook for life that He
wrote for us. We’re the creatures, He is the creator, let’s read the manual He wrote for us
creatures. We have no excuse to be fat, lazy and shallow Christians, there is so much available
for us, especially here in America. We have commentaries by excellent theologians, a few good
theologians on the television, radio and internet give us access to the most excellent of
theologians.(Unfortunately, we also can hear false doctrine as well through these mediums. We
must exercise some discernment here, how do we get discernment, you guessed it read His
word!)
Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent (eager) to present yourself approved to God, a
workman that does need to be ashamed rightly dividing the truth.” We have to be diligent in our
study of His word, not handling it carelessly, without thought, but intensely seeking to know
what truths God wants to reveal to us, that we might live our lives to His glory. That is our
ultimate purpose here on this earth to bring glory to Him.
The trouble with most of us is we have a heart after God, but a body bent after the flesh. Even
the esteemed apostle Paul is quoted in Romans 7:24-25, “Wretched man that I am who will set
me free from the body of the death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then,
on the one hand I myself with my mind, am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my
flesh the law of sin.” Lin Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets it desire against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the
things that you please.” Therein lays the war, the battle. Instead of pursuing God, many times
we pursue the latest movie, fun adventure, favorite restaurant, you name it, anything other then
having to discipline these ravenous bodies with their ever increasing desire for the things of the
world. It is oh so much easier to follow our body’s sinful desires rather than to put out the
necessary discipline to be obedient and to seek His face. If it is our desire to remain baby
Christians for the rest of our time here on earth, we take the easy path, doing zero to grow
spiritually and consequently we are constantly jostled and tossed about by every new storm that
comes our way. Bewildered, perplexed, confused, trusting in our own wisdom because we are
not trusting in His, wondering what is God about in our life. Yet never taking the time to actually
find out who this God of ours is, but rather we whine, throw tantrums and complain as a small
child might. I don’t think there is anything more pathetic than an able bodied (physically and
mentally) adult who conducts themselves as a small child. We need to grow up as Christians,
and by now, I think you get my theme, by reading, studying, applying His word to our life.
How do we glorify God when the doldrums and sorrow of life hit? I mean we all incarcerated in
our fallen flesh get depressed, melancholy, you name the word that fits you best and we all fall
down. So what do we do in those times? David knew depression, read the Psalms. Job
understood what it was like to have your life hit the fan over and over again. Read what Job
has to say, he ended up repenting of the wrong thoughts he had about God, is dust and
sackcloth. Coming to the realization as is written in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do anything
and no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” These were not perfect men with perfect
faith. They challenged God, accused Him of not acting fairly, cried out their fears to Him, do
you see the pattern here, in spite of it all, God was their focus. Yes, they failed, we all do, but
they kept seeking His face. David was honest in his relationship to God, he was honest before
God when he sought Him. Did David do some things he shouldn’t have? I think we all know
those answers, just a few; adultery, polygamy, murder, pretending to be a mad man not trusting
in His Lord, so as not to be hurt by the enemy…..we could probably keep going, but that should
suffice where David is concerned. But what did David always do that made him a man with
what the Bible tells us is a man with a heart after God? He sinned, no doubt, a lot, but he
repented, and sought God. Was David a worse sinner then you and I? No, we all fall short,
whether we perform our sin outwardly by acts, or inwardly with our minds. The key to staying
close to God is to always be seeking Him through all the experiences of life. When we fall, and
we will, we get back up, with true repentance, a continuous and steadfast desire to seek God,
never letting go of the One who loves us. We glorify God by continually seeking Him. No
pretense, He knows anyway, but with an honest heart, real questions, real hurt and yes even
anger, but still we are seeking Him, repenting of our wrong thoughts towards Him, as we move
closer to knowing Him, continually submitting our lives to His will.
Well what about in the humdrums of life? The everyday, life is repetitive and monotonous.
Perhaps you are a stay at home mom, doing the same tasks day after day. Or you work at the
same job, with the same situations repeating themselves with different names. No crisis facing
you currently (they’ll come later). What about how to glorify God in the monotony of our lives?
Still we should seek His face, we read His word, we meditate on His thoughts, we share with
others our faith, we communicate with our Father constantly throughout the sameness of life.
Choosing, again we have to tell our flesh how to behave, choosing to seek Him. To be thankful
for what He has provided for us, even the dead end job that appears to be going nowhere, and
definitely isn’t paying anything. The never ending housework, thankful for the task He has put
before you. There is no crisis causing us to fall on our face and wail, we still sin and must
repent but no scandalous sins of a horrific nature, life is the same, yet in that sameness we must
glorify Him. Although life isn’t throwing us curve balls, we are remaining steadfast in our faith,
things are okay if a bit boring, yet still we seek His face. We glorify God is the mundane things
of life, by remembering Him, being thankful for the humdrums of our life. Again the same way
we glorify the Lord is by studying His word, meditating, praying, sharing and reflecting Christ to
those God has put around us, obedient and willing to be used as His servant in the sameness of
our life. Who better to reflect and teach God to small children then a mother who is there
everyday? What about the people at work, sinners though they are, as we are, who is sharing
Christ with them? Neighbors, who have only you as a living testament to who and what our
Lord is like. Yes, from our perspective life can seem humdrum, boring and unexciting, but from
an eternal perspective, what is God doing through you at this time? Perhaps, your children are
grown, you are retired from a job, and so much of the time you seem to spend all alone. What is
God doing through this time in your life when you are alone? Do you seek His face, are you
reading His word? Do you look at this time as a season where God is training you to be more
conformed to the image of His Son? Do you spend time studying His word now that you have
some time without so many responsibilities, praying for those who are no longer a part of your
everyday life, drawing deeper in your desire to know your Father. Are you looking for
opportunities where He can use you? Do you view this season as a time to grow deeper with
Him? It is all about perspective, God’s perspective. If we can view our life seasoned through
His Word and His ways, our life gets the right perspective. It is not about us, it is all about Him.
Okay enough said about the how, I think I got the point across on studying His word and
applying it to our lives. Here is the tough part, being obedient to what we know. You know the
truth, you know you need to spend time studying and meditating on God’s word, spending time
in prayer with Him and for others, fellowshipping with other believers, worshiping Him alone and
corporately. How can we be obedient to what we know? This is a hard one, listen closely, just
do it! Discipline your body, your flesh and its desire for the easy way, and take the tough way.
Get control of your fleshly body, and make it do what you know your heart’s desire is, that of
seeking God. Not a morning person you say, no problem, take some time in the afternoon, or
evening, or middle of the night, to read His word, meditate, pray, memorize scripture so that you
always have His word handy in your mind. There is time to do it, you have to choose to
sacrifice your flesh and choose to honor and grow in your walk with God. Nobody likes a
capable adult acting like a child, and no obedient Christian wants to remain a Christian baby,
but it does take work and time. You don’t grow up over night, but you invest yourself in the
process, so you will grow up. When life gets turned upside down around you, you will remain
on an even keel steadfast in your trust in God. Obedience is tough, but it is profitable and well
worth it. Our flesh is funny stuff, it gets used to routines, make it a routine to seek God, it will
become easier and a more natural part of your life, so that soon, your obedience to seek God,
though a discipline of your flesh, will turn out to be your greatest times of joy.
What is it about working out our salvation? What does that mean? It is by works that we are
saved? It is all by God’s grace that anyone enters into His kingdom. All grace, no works. Yet
Ephesians 2:10 says, “we are His workmanship created for good works which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are not saved by works ever, no human merit
can satisfy a Holy God, nothing we can do would ever meet that standard, for we are born in
sin. Yet God says we were created for good works. So as believers we are to seek
opportunities to be used by God for good works that will bring glory to Him. We are not working
our way to heaven through human achievement rather, we are, as we walk in accordance with
His Spirit, desiring to live a life that is pleasing to our God. We accomplish this by a life of
obedience to His word, and actions that bring glory to Him. Whatever we are doing, we should
be doing it to the glory of God. From the mundane everyday tasks, to the supposed
mountaintops of preaching the Word to a receptive sinner, in all we do we should seek to give
Him glory. No task is too small or too large in which we submit it to Him asking for His will to be
done through us. We do whatever God has put before us, and seek ways to be a servant to
others. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the son of man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” Well, how did Jesus serve? He healed the
sick, the deformed, the blind, cast out demons, performed miracles over nature, fed the
multitudes, proclaimed the good news of repentance leading to salvation, he pointed out the
false teachers, raised the dead. Now obviously, He is God and He does the miraculous, I am not
expecting or expected to raise the dead, or cast out demons, or heal anyone or stop the wind.
However, I can pray for the sick and help the blind, proclaim truth to those blinded by the ruler of
this world and his demons, I can feed those who are hungry or contribute money to Christian
organizations that do so. No doubt I can tell the good news of Our Savior, but will I be bold
enough to do so? I can study His word in order that I can point out and discern truth from error,
and be bold to tell others who are caught up in the worlds religions. I can visit the lonely or cast
outs. I can be Jesus in the flesh to those who are hurting with the death of loved ones, or
facing death themselves, by caring and having compassion to be available in whatever capacity
would be welcomed. I believe it was Elizabeth Elliot when asked what should you do next when
death and tragedy rage at your door. She said, “Just do the next thing.” What are we to do as
believers created unto good works, “we just do the next thing that is before us,” whatever God
puts in our paths, looking for ways to be used by Him. The next thing may not be some great
feat, but the simple laundry, or going off to the same job, fixing a dinner for a neighbor. It is not
so much what we are doing but where our heart is in the midst of our doing. Do we have a
heart of thankfulness toward of God, or do we pout and whine about OUR circumstances, what
WE deserve, the ME syndrome. When we figure out and more importantly apply the principle
that our lives are not to be about US but all about Him, we can be more content in the midst of
life’s everydayness. We work out our salvation through our heart attitudes in how we live. It
doesn’t matter what we “do” what title is before or behind our name, our monetary value or lack
of, God is all about the heart. We work out our salvation with heart attitudes that are honoring
to the Lord. The more we know our God, the easier it becomes to take all that comes our way
as from His hand. We can submit it to Him and He will work things out for our ultimate good and
conformation to be like His Son. Life is not easy, nor did Jesus ever promise us an easy life,
instead indeed He promised us tribulations. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “ In this world you will
have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” That’s one verse you
don’t hear being claimed by televangelists who believe you should claim the promises of God,
they prefer the health and prosperity doctrine. Our life doesn’t end here with this world, we are
eternal beings, and will live eternally either in the presence of the Lord in heaven, or away from
His presence in Hell. We should expect and will most assuredly have tribulations. Didn’t all the
apostles? All the martyrs throughout Christian history? Jesus didn’t promise an easy life here
on earth, he promised us eternal life with Him in heaven.
The bottom line is we are to keep pressing on. As Paul said of himself in Philippians 3:12-14,
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may hold of that
for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind (former sins or
accomplishments) and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the
upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep pursuing and pressing on closer to
God, keep going forward, forget past sins and failures, or past spiritual success, the mountain
top experience of yesterday will do no good for the valley of today, unless we press on toward
Christ. We must keep our focus on God, this world is passing away, and we will pass away
from it as well, the only constant guarantee we have in our life is God. He will remain faithful,
even if we are faithless, He is our north star, we fix our hope on Him.
Many, including myself, desire to maintain that closeness with God we feel during different times
of our life. Whether while we are in prayer, reading His word, really seeing Him act through our
life, answer prayers or so many different situations causing us to “feel” that closeness with our
God. We want to stay on the mountain top as it were, yet we are destined to come off that
mountain top and back into the valley. I wonder how Moses felt up on the mountain top with
God and then coming back down into the valley where the rebellious Israelites were, I am sure
his desire was to stay there with the Lord on the mountain top, and not back with the rebellious
Israelites! Living amongst the Israelites brought out Moses’ sinful nature all too well.
Remember the way he smote the rock, when God had only told him to speak to it, because of
that rebellion Moses didn’t get to enter into the Promised Land. I am sure he had all he could
take of the Israelites and in his frustration and humanness, he was not obedient explicitly, to
obey what the Lord had commanded him exactly; but our Lord desires our obedience. If we
base our closeness with the Lord on our feelings we will be deceived, He is always near, it is we
who feel estranged. Life’s circumstances and busyness get us distracted from the God we love,
we fall in our humanness and feel far from God, but He is always there, waiting for us to come to
Him in repentance, and renew again the sweet fellowship we desire. We can’t base our
relationship to God on our unreliable and ever changing emotions and circumstances, but on
the sure Word of God, who He is, and His promises to His children, not our feelings. Sure it
feels good to have that closeness emotionally, but He is just as close when we don’t “feel” that
closeness. It is probably a good thermometer for measuring your maturity and understanding of
God spiritually; when you feel far away, do you know He is near? That is a sign of a Christian
who knows their God. Our stability spiritually is dependent on knowing His Word, Who our God
is, His attributes, His promises, our stability needs to be built not on the wavering seas of
emotions, but on the true everlasting Rock of God. Only then will we be secure and enabled to
endure the trails and tests of this life. We don’t need mountain top experiences we need the
sure everlasting rock Himself, who will remain faithful even when we are faithless. The
encouragement of the Word of God through His Holy Spirit is sufficient to meet all our needs.
We cannot expect our life to be trouble free, that is not the promise Jesus gave to us. He,
Jesus has overcome the world, with its sin and death. Through we will go through the trials and
tribulations of this world, we also know the end of the story. We who belong to Jesus, will pass
through death into life eternal with our Lord. Our last breath on earth is our first breath in
heaven. End of story, we get to eternally praise and fellowship with the Lord, the host of
heaven and other saints. Eternity is forever, without end, no time, this life goes by fast, as
James says like a vapor (James 4:14). Although it really is impossible for us to fully wrap our
minds around the concept of eternity when we are stuck in time and space, this is what God
promises. We will have never ending joy in the presence of our Lord. So take heart Christians,
we know the end of the story, and though this world is going to throw us some curve balls, we
can be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. Look forward beyond this time, to a
place with no time, no pain, no tears, no end of relationships destroyed by sin and death,
forever and ever being who God created us to be, in our redeemed bodies. Meditate on that
thought, and it will lift you above the trials here on earth. The trials will still hurt, for here we are
stuck in time, but one day they will end and it will be soon. Keep pressing on, reaching forward
to the things that are ahead, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
By: Debra Schreiner
How do we pursue God through all of life’s trials successfully? Is anyone really triumphant?
When tragedy strikes; a child dies or a parent or friend, brother or sister, where does your faith
lie? A divorce slams you by surprise, you’re a Christian, and they don’t get divorces, right!
Your finances fall out from under you and now you face bankruptcy! Forget about the
retirement plan, now your plan for retirement is to pray God calls you home before you are too
old and can’t work. Your doctor calls asking to meet with you regarding your test results, and
by the way, the doctor says, “it would be good to bring someone with you.” Wars, rumors of
wars, terrorism affecting the entire world and your child has decided to enlist! Media warnings
about the epidemic of drug abuse, and it appears your child is not only an addict, but furnishes
drugs for a profit to others as well.
Life comes at you hard and fast. How you respond to your personal state of affairs that is the
question. Where does your faith lie in the midst of all the whirlwinds and tempests hurled in
your direction? That is the real test of our faith, and trails prove the integrity of your faith.
James says, in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trails,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” What will be the result of
our trials? The desired result of our trails from God’s perspective is that we be continually
transformed into the image of His glorious Son, Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29)
That is not to say that God is the author or initiator of all tragedy, we live in a sin fallen world,
granted He is also not taken by surprise, and is sovereign over every event, but He allows or
permits certain circumstances to occur in His children’s lives. Just check out the book of Job.
Job lost his wealth, his children, the respect of the community, endured the bad advice of
friends, and his faithful wife advises him to “curse God and die”, apparently she had enough of
Job and felt she would be better off with him dead. All these events came and were allowed into
Job’s life by the very hand of God. Yet Job saw through these events to the end result. In Job
19:25-27, Job says, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His
stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God, Whom I
myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” Job had a heavenly
perspective, no matter what life would hurl at Job, he knew he would be with his God. As we
submit the tragedies and disappointments of our lives to God, He will work through the
circumstances for our transformation to the image of His son Jesus and for His glory and for our
ultimate good.
We can only survive the onslaught of trials through keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the
sovereign Lord of the universe. God has promised to work all things out for our good, to
conform us to the image of His Son. Do we believe that, or do we act like those who have no
hope? Whining, complaining, destitute, irritable, belligerent, the list obviously could go on and
on. How do we stay steadfast and immovable as Paul commanded the Corinthians in 1
Corinthians 15:58? “ Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing the your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
It is not an easy process, in fact it is hard work, capitalize that in your mind, HARD WORK! It is
through an act of our will, a discipline of our flesh, to believe God at His Word, against our sinful
nature which questions His plans. By disciplining our lazy flesh to stay immersed in Gods
Word, and I mean immersed to the point you may drown. Regardless of whether you “feel” like
you are getting anything out of His Word or not, disciplining your flesh to seek Him through His
word. You remain steadfastly in the Word of God reading and praying over His Word. Seeking
His blessing through the prayerful study and meditation of His Holy Word. Jacob wrestled
against the angel of the Lord all night, he refused to let go until he was blessed. And God did
bless Him, and gave him a new name, instead of Jacob which meant “deceiver” his new name
would be Israel which means “God fights,” his new name would remind him and others of this
fight where Jacob, now named Israel, had overcome. That wrestling and subsequent blessing
became a significant promise for the nation’s forthcoming struggles, and their ability to
overcome. We also have to struggle and wrestle through our problems with God, for only
through Him will we overcome. God will be faithful to us. Always we need to be alert to be
praying, meditating on His word, beseeching God for His help in the midst of our trials, seeking
other Christians to hold us up against the tide of grief and sorrows.
It is a daily discipline, we have to beat our bodies into subjection to be obedient to seek His
face. (1 Corinthians 12:9-10) There are times when we can’t wait to pray, or read God’s word,
or fellowship at church to worship with other believers, and then there are the times when we
isolate and withdraw from God and others. If we choose, and it is a choice, to withdraw from
God, His Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, we will reap discouragement,
disillusionment, cynicism etc….. the downward spiral will continue on. The repercussions of
turning away from God and inward toward our fleshly desires, instead of turning toward God
and away from our sin filled flesh could fill a multitude of books. But then the quest is not to
know how to turn away from God towards selfishness, we do that with no problem, our desire, if
we are truly believers is to stay close to our Father at all times. This, as I stated earlier, is
always an act of our will. We crucify our flesh and its desires to whine and complain and we
choose to trust God when all hope appears to be gone. Sounds simple, right? Just, “Turn your
eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.” Simple, yes, but profoundly true and tough to keep our
focus fixated when our world tilts seemingly out of control. But that is where we must stay fixed,
with our eyes on Him, for most assuredly He is our only hope.
How can we accomplish this? Again, we need to know our God. Who He is. What is His
character? What are His attributes? How does He work out His will? The only way to know
the answers to these questions is to read the “letters” God wrote to us. God used ordinary men
who worshiped Him to declare what He wanted us to understand about His will and purposes,
these men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. We need to put consistent time
and thought, into reading and meditating on His word, studying the guidebook for life that He
wrote for us. We’re the creatures, He is the creator, let’s read the manual He wrote for us
creatures. We have no excuse to be fat, lazy and shallow Christians, there is so much available
for us, especially here in America. We have commentaries by excellent theologians, a few good
theologians on the television, radio and internet give us access to the most excellent of
theologians.(Unfortunately, we also can hear false doctrine as well through these mediums. We
must exercise some discernment here, how do we get discernment, you guessed it read His
word!)
Paul told Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent (eager) to present yourself approved to God, a
workman that does need to be ashamed rightly dividing the truth.” We have to be diligent in our
study of His word, not handling it carelessly, without thought, but intensely seeking to know
what truths God wants to reveal to us, that we might live our lives to His glory. That is our
ultimate purpose here on this earth to bring glory to Him.
The trouble with most of us is we have a heart after God, but a body bent after the flesh. Even
the esteemed apostle Paul is quoted in Romans 7:24-25, “Wretched man that I am who will set
me free from the body of the death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then,
on the one hand I myself with my mind, am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my
flesh the law of sin.” Lin Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh sets it desire against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the
things that you please.” Therein lays the war, the battle. Instead of pursuing God, many times
we pursue the latest movie, fun adventure, favorite restaurant, you name it, anything other then
having to discipline these ravenous bodies with their ever increasing desire for the things of the
world. It is oh so much easier to follow our body’s sinful desires rather than to put out the
necessary discipline to be obedient and to seek His face. If it is our desire to remain baby
Christians for the rest of our time here on earth, we take the easy path, doing zero to grow
spiritually and consequently we are constantly jostled and tossed about by every new storm that
comes our way. Bewildered, perplexed, confused, trusting in our own wisdom because we are
not trusting in His, wondering what is God about in our life. Yet never taking the time to actually
find out who this God of ours is, but rather we whine, throw tantrums and complain as a small
child might. I don’t think there is anything more pathetic than an able bodied (physically and
mentally) adult who conducts themselves as a small child. We need to grow up as Christians,
and by now, I think you get my theme, by reading, studying, applying His word to our life.
How do we glorify God when the doldrums and sorrow of life hit? I mean we all incarcerated in
our fallen flesh get depressed, melancholy, you name the word that fits you best and we all fall
down. So what do we do in those times? David knew depression, read the Psalms. Job
understood what it was like to have your life hit the fan over and over again. Read what Job
has to say, he ended up repenting of the wrong thoughts he had about God, is dust and
sackcloth. Coming to the realization as is written in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do anything
and no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” These were not perfect men with perfect
faith. They challenged God, accused Him of not acting fairly, cried out their fears to Him, do
you see the pattern here, in spite of it all, God was their focus. Yes, they failed, we all do, but
they kept seeking His face. David was honest in his relationship to God, he was honest before
God when he sought Him. Did David do some things he shouldn’t have? I think we all know
those answers, just a few; adultery, polygamy, murder, pretending to be a mad man not trusting
in His Lord, so as not to be hurt by the enemy…..we could probably keep going, but that should
suffice where David is concerned. But what did David always do that made him a man with
what the Bible tells us is a man with a heart after God? He sinned, no doubt, a lot, but he
repented, and sought God. Was David a worse sinner then you and I? No, we all fall short,
whether we perform our sin outwardly by acts, or inwardly with our minds. The key to staying
close to God is to always be seeking Him through all the experiences of life. When we fall, and
we will, we get back up, with true repentance, a continuous and steadfast desire to seek God,
never letting go of the One who loves us. We glorify God by continually seeking Him. No
pretense, He knows anyway, but with an honest heart, real questions, real hurt and yes even
anger, but still we are seeking Him, repenting of our wrong thoughts towards Him, as we move
closer to knowing Him, continually submitting our lives to His will.
Well what about in the humdrums of life? The everyday, life is repetitive and monotonous.
Perhaps you are a stay at home mom, doing the same tasks day after day. Or you work at the
same job, with the same situations repeating themselves with different names. No crisis facing
you currently (they’ll come later). What about how to glorify God in the monotony of our lives?
Still we should seek His face, we read His word, we meditate on His thoughts, we share with
others our faith, we communicate with our Father constantly throughout the sameness of life.
Choosing, again we have to tell our flesh how to behave, choosing to seek Him. To be thankful
for what He has provided for us, even the dead end job that appears to be going nowhere, and
definitely isn’t paying anything. The never ending housework, thankful for the task He has put
before you. There is no crisis causing us to fall on our face and wail, we still sin and must
repent but no scandalous sins of a horrific nature, life is the same, yet in that sameness we must
glorify Him. Although life isn’t throwing us curve balls, we are remaining steadfast in our faith,
things are okay if a bit boring, yet still we seek His face. We glorify God is the mundane things
of life, by remembering Him, being thankful for the humdrums of our life. Again the same way
we glorify the Lord is by studying His word, meditating, praying, sharing and reflecting Christ to
those God has put around us, obedient and willing to be used as His servant in the sameness of
our life. Who better to reflect and teach God to small children then a mother who is there
everyday? What about the people at work, sinners though they are, as we are, who is sharing
Christ with them? Neighbors, who have only you as a living testament to who and what our
Lord is like. Yes, from our perspective life can seem humdrum, boring and unexciting, but from
an eternal perspective, what is God doing through you at this time? Perhaps, your children are
grown, you are retired from a job, and so much of the time you seem to spend all alone. What is
God doing through this time in your life when you are alone? Do you seek His face, are you
reading His word? Do you look at this time as a season where God is training you to be more
conformed to the image of His Son? Do you spend time studying His word now that you have
some time without so many responsibilities, praying for those who are no longer a part of your
everyday life, drawing deeper in your desire to know your Father. Are you looking for
opportunities where He can use you? Do you view this season as a time to grow deeper with
Him? It is all about perspective, God’s perspective. If we can view our life seasoned through
His Word and His ways, our life gets the right perspective. It is not about us, it is all about Him.
Okay enough said about the how, I think I got the point across on studying His word and
applying it to our lives. Here is the tough part, being obedient to what we know. You know the
truth, you know you need to spend time studying and meditating on God’s word, spending time
in prayer with Him and for others, fellowshipping with other believers, worshiping Him alone and
corporately. How can we be obedient to what we know? This is a hard one, listen closely, just
do it! Discipline your body, your flesh and its desire for the easy way, and take the tough way.
Get control of your fleshly body, and make it do what you know your heart’s desire is, that of
seeking God. Not a morning person you say, no problem, take some time in the afternoon, or
evening, or middle of the night, to read His word, meditate, pray, memorize scripture so that you
always have His word handy in your mind. There is time to do it, you have to choose to
sacrifice your flesh and choose to honor and grow in your walk with God. Nobody likes a
capable adult acting like a child, and no obedient Christian wants to remain a Christian baby,
but it does take work and time. You don’t grow up over night, but you invest yourself in the
process, so you will grow up. When life gets turned upside down around you, you will remain
on an even keel steadfast in your trust in God. Obedience is tough, but it is profitable and well
worth it. Our flesh is funny stuff, it gets used to routines, make it a routine to seek God, it will
become easier and a more natural part of your life, so that soon, your obedience to seek God,
though a discipline of your flesh, will turn out to be your greatest times of joy.
What is it about working out our salvation? What does that mean? It is by works that we are
saved? It is all by God’s grace that anyone enters into His kingdom. All grace, no works. Yet
Ephesians 2:10 says, “we are His workmanship created for good works which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are not saved by works ever, no human merit
can satisfy a Holy God, nothing we can do would ever meet that standard, for we are born in
sin. Yet God says we were created for good works. So as believers we are to seek
opportunities to be used by God for good works that will bring glory to Him. We are not working
our way to heaven through human achievement rather, we are, as we walk in accordance with
His Spirit, desiring to live a life that is pleasing to our God. We accomplish this by a life of
obedience to His word, and actions that bring glory to Him. Whatever we are doing, we should
be doing it to the glory of God. From the mundane everyday tasks, to the supposed
mountaintops of preaching the Word to a receptive sinner, in all we do we should seek to give
Him glory. No task is too small or too large in which we submit it to Him asking for His will to be
done through us. We do whatever God has put before us, and seek ways to be a servant to
others. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the son of man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” Well, how did Jesus serve? He healed the
sick, the deformed, the blind, cast out demons, performed miracles over nature, fed the
multitudes, proclaimed the good news of repentance leading to salvation, he pointed out the
false teachers, raised the dead. Now obviously, He is God and He does the miraculous, I am not
expecting or expected to raise the dead, or cast out demons, or heal anyone or stop the wind.
However, I can pray for the sick and help the blind, proclaim truth to those blinded by the ruler of
this world and his demons, I can feed those who are hungry or contribute money to Christian
organizations that do so. No doubt I can tell the good news of Our Savior, but will I be bold
enough to do so? I can study His word in order that I can point out and discern truth from error,
and be bold to tell others who are caught up in the worlds religions. I can visit the lonely or cast
outs. I can be Jesus in the flesh to those who are hurting with the death of loved ones, or
facing death themselves, by caring and having compassion to be available in whatever capacity
would be welcomed. I believe it was Elizabeth Elliot when asked what should you do next when
death and tragedy rage at your door. She said, “Just do the next thing.” What are we to do as
believers created unto good works, “we just do the next thing that is before us,” whatever God
puts in our paths, looking for ways to be used by Him. The next thing may not be some great
feat, but the simple laundry, or going off to the same job, fixing a dinner for a neighbor. It is not
so much what we are doing but where our heart is in the midst of our doing. Do we have a
heart of thankfulness toward of God, or do we pout and whine about OUR circumstances, what
WE deserve, the ME syndrome. When we figure out and more importantly apply the principle
that our lives are not to be about US but all about Him, we can be more content in the midst of
life’s everydayness. We work out our salvation through our heart attitudes in how we live. It
doesn’t matter what we “do” what title is before or behind our name, our monetary value or lack
of, God is all about the heart. We work out our salvation with heart attitudes that are honoring
to the Lord. The more we know our God, the easier it becomes to take all that comes our way
as from His hand. We can submit it to Him and He will work things out for our ultimate good and
conformation to be like His Son. Life is not easy, nor did Jesus ever promise us an easy life,
instead indeed He promised us tribulations. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “ In this world you will
have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” That’s one verse you
don’t hear being claimed by televangelists who believe you should claim the promises of God,
they prefer the health and prosperity doctrine. Our life doesn’t end here with this world, we are
eternal beings, and will live eternally either in the presence of the Lord in heaven, or away from
His presence in Hell. We should expect and will most assuredly have tribulations. Didn’t all the
apostles? All the martyrs throughout Christian history? Jesus didn’t promise an easy life here
on earth, he promised us eternal life with Him in heaven.
The bottom line is we are to keep pressing on. As Paul said of himself in Philippians 3:12-14,
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on that I may hold of that
for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have
apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind (former sins or
accomplishments) and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the
upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep pursuing and pressing on closer to
God, keep going forward, forget past sins and failures, or past spiritual success, the mountain
top experience of yesterday will do no good for the valley of today, unless we press on toward
Christ. We must keep our focus on God, this world is passing away, and we will pass away
from it as well, the only constant guarantee we have in our life is God. He will remain faithful,
even if we are faithless, He is our north star, we fix our hope on Him.
Many, including myself, desire to maintain that closeness with God we feel during different times
of our life. Whether while we are in prayer, reading His word, really seeing Him act through our
life, answer prayers or so many different situations causing us to “feel” that closeness with our
God. We want to stay on the mountain top as it were, yet we are destined to come off that
mountain top and back into the valley. I wonder how Moses felt up on the mountain top with
God and then coming back down into the valley where the rebellious Israelites were, I am sure
his desire was to stay there with the Lord on the mountain top, and not back with the rebellious
Israelites! Living amongst the Israelites brought out Moses’ sinful nature all too well.
Remember the way he smote the rock, when God had only told him to speak to it, because of
that rebellion Moses didn’t get to enter into the Promised Land. I am sure he had all he could
take of the Israelites and in his frustration and humanness, he was not obedient explicitly, to
obey what the Lord had commanded him exactly; but our Lord desires our obedience. If we
base our closeness with the Lord on our feelings we will be deceived, He is always near, it is we
who feel estranged. Life’s circumstances and busyness get us distracted from the God we love,
we fall in our humanness and feel far from God, but He is always there, waiting for us to come to
Him in repentance, and renew again the sweet fellowship we desire. We can’t base our
relationship to God on our unreliable and ever changing emotions and circumstances, but on
the sure Word of God, who He is, and His promises to His children, not our feelings. Sure it
feels good to have that closeness emotionally, but He is just as close when we don’t “feel” that
closeness. It is probably a good thermometer for measuring your maturity and understanding of
God spiritually; when you feel far away, do you know He is near? That is a sign of a Christian
who knows their God. Our stability spiritually is dependent on knowing His Word, Who our God
is, His attributes, His promises, our stability needs to be built not on the wavering seas of
emotions, but on the true everlasting Rock of God. Only then will we be secure and enabled to
endure the trails and tests of this life. We don’t need mountain top experiences we need the
sure everlasting rock Himself, who will remain faithful even when we are faithless. The
encouragement of the Word of God through His Holy Spirit is sufficient to meet all our needs.
We cannot expect our life to be trouble free, that is not the promise Jesus gave to us. He,
Jesus has overcome the world, with its sin and death. Through we will go through the trials and
tribulations of this world, we also know the end of the story. We who belong to Jesus, will pass
through death into life eternal with our Lord. Our last breath on earth is our first breath in
heaven. End of story, we get to eternally praise and fellowship with the Lord, the host of
heaven and other saints. Eternity is forever, without end, no time, this life goes by fast, as
James says like a vapor (James 4:14). Although it really is impossible for us to fully wrap our
minds around the concept of eternity when we are stuck in time and space, this is what God
promises. We will have never ending joy in the presence of our Lord. So take heart Christians,
we know the end of the story, and though this world is going to throw us some curve balls, we
can be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. Look forward beyond this time, to a
place with no time, no pain, no tears, no end of relationships destroyed by sin and death,
forever and ever being who God created us to be, in our redeemed bodies. Meditate on that
thought, and it will lift you above the trials here on earth. The trials will still hurt, for here we are
stuck in time, but one day they will end and it will be soon. Keep pressing on, reaching forward
to the things that are ahead, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
| I want to thank our dear son, John Kehrli, for building me this beautiful website. I am so proud of it and hope that you too will enjoy the things he has put on this site to make it meaningful to you. |
| New Sections: Husbands & Wives Parenting Online Sermons Church Finder Missions One Year Bible Proverbs 31 Woman |
| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| All information contained in this website is covered under copyright. For distribution rights, please contact the editor at Women for the Lord. ( 2006-11) |
| Cry from the Wall |