Sometimes, can you relate to afflictions and how when we experience our own afflictions�that there is purpose in that? Many times I look back at my own suffering or hurt, and I see how God comforted me, and from that, God allowed me to be around others who needed the same kind of comfort He gave me. I knew how to help another because I experienced the same thing, so the compassion I felt for the person was that much stronger because I could relate to their circumstance, even their pain. That seems to happen quite frequently with me as I allow God to use me. I feel as we are faithful and willing to allow God to use us as a conduit of love and support to others, He will put who He knows we can help before us knowing as we are faithful; we comfort others to Gods� glory.
The passage of scripture I see all the time is 2 Corinthians 1: 3-6 stated (NASB)
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4. who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
Sometimes I used to wonder why God would allow some kinds of pain or hurt in my life in past, and, now I understand. While He allows, I believe He allows for a reason, which is apart of a bigger picture of His purpose in the body of Christ. I�ve been thinking about this for awhile now, so I wrote it out to share. It is a good thing that we can share with each other, and we should continue to do so and keep building and lifting each other up.
I have a friend that refers to affliction as sandpaper. It is affliction that God uses to mold us and form us into the vessel He will use. We are here to be made into the image of Christ to become united as the Body of Christ. In the long run we will be given positions and assignments in the Millennial Kingdom and what we learn here will be applied there.
I think of many examples of affliction. We shake a can of paint because without the shaking it is not mixed properly and therefore would be of no use to us. Clay is pressed into a shape and if the shape is wrong it is crushed and reshaped again. We pound the nail, torque the bolt, grind the knife, turn the screw, drill the hole, sand the wood, weld the metal, polish the silver and all of this is adversity. It is adversity that accomplishes something. The adversity we face is tempered by the comfort of God in the knowledge that He always has our best interest in mind and that all we experience in this life will make us useful now and in the future.
For me adversity has taught me what it means to be abused as a child and an adult, the pain of death, and poverty to the point of nearly being homeless. I have also learned how to be a blessing in spite of my adversity and to wait for Father to come to my rescue. Always trying to keep in mind that He is the Potter and I am the clay.
I agree to both of you, what matters most is we will come out from it victoriously. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him; who have been called according to his purpose. :yay:
Rather than asking why me, I have learnt to pray during afflictions and ask what do You want me to see, to learn God?
My experience is, that He reveals Himself. It does not instantly solve my problem nor makes it the pain disappaer, but it is healing, comforting and rewarding, as I come out in better shape.
Not the shape, the world is so desperate looking for, but the shape He wants me to be for His purpose with me.
Sometimes I truly think that I cannot bear my problems.Financially, emotionally.... I do not know how to deal with it and I am pushed around, mocked and persued by people who want to see me suffer. There is no light in the tunnel. And despair is coming all over me.
It is very difficult then to see a positive thing in it, that God is actually shaping me. I am sometimes upset that I must learn through suffering and affliction... why cannot He just teach me through blessings?
But everytime the answer is the same. I will only change because of afflictions. If all things are going perfectly well, I will stay the way I am. God knows me better than I do.
I have learnt to trust in God. Being so succesful in my career, it was not so obvious to trust anyone. Believe me, there have been times I only trusted my own gut. And I was always right.
God thought it necessary to intervene. He had to open my eyes. Although He did it gently, it was still very painful but now I am glad. Had He not taught me back then in the middle of my success, how could I trust Him now, when I am facing so much difficulties.
His wisdom is beyond any imagination. After all these years, I still have absolutely no idea what God wants with my life! But He is in command. I put my trust in Him.
How do I know I am doing the right thing? I do not know! He will tell! All I have to do is stop talking and planning, and just listen... Now as I write this, it sounds simply ridiculous. Still I will not delete it...
This is all easier said than done but from my own experience, it works. In good or bad times, He is not far away from me. He reshapes me and sometimes He has to dig so deep that it really really hurts and I get mad as well. And sometimes I fight it as I do not want to change. But His Will shall be done and I never ever beat Him so I guess I gave up the fighting a little bit.
But when He leads me into the light, I see. And I can only fall on my knees and be grateful that He has taken the time to help me. There is absolutely nobody in this world who can or would.
Well, just a small tooken of my experience with His ways.
it's very hard to see that He allows things while were in the middle but yes I believe that He does, and as His children, our steps are ordered by Him, thank you Lord!
It's how he matures and seasons us for the race :)
Ultimately, my belief is that we go through things for the benefit of others.
so that through our experience from that trial we can encourage and pray with others going through something similar.
Most Excellent post and such wonderful replys. This is why I cannot walk away from this site and from you my Sisters and Brothers. It is Truths like this that sets us apart from those that are less fortunate.
An Oyster gets a bit of dirt inside it's shell. It Irritates the Oyster...so the Oyster coats it with a lacquer like substance that hardens and when it hardens...it again irritates the Oyster and the process continues with the end result being a very precious Pearl.
A beautiful Butterfly has to struggle mightily to emerge from it's cocoon. This "struggling" forces blood into it's wings...causing them to Expand and therefore "creating" the Butterfly. Without this Struggle...no Butterfly!
The finest Swordmakers discovered that if they wanted a hard blade they had to �heat� that steel to the point of destroying it (just so hot...yet not so hot as to destroy it) and then removing it from the furnace and then �Pounding� on it and then submerging it in cold water! This went on for several times. Each cycle would remove impurities and strengthen the �bond� between the different metals involved.
Our Lord and Creator does the same with us.
Some of us are becoming beautiful Pearls or Butterflys or as Strong and as Sharp as a Sword. Let us continue to �Learn� from Life's Lessons!
God is always molding us... The pain is sometimes so hard that we think �I cannot bear it anymore� or �I cannot bear it again�� and our heart seems to break in a thousand of little pieces that cry out to the Lord as a chorus of sad and desperate voices. Sometimes it seems that our prayer hasn�t passed through the ceiling to the High� and we feel in complete loneliness like Elijah in the desert � [1 Kings 19:4]
4But he himself went a day�s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." 5And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.�
...
I stay so still and quiet that no muscle moves in my body, and I cry aloud to God �the same prayer�� I crave for that angel�s food and water, my heart burns � because it is so dark that I cannot see Horeb�
Arch� sometimes we look in the mirror and think �where is the Butterfly I am supposed to become�
Then� He comes uniting again all those pieces in the initial piece He made with so much Love, and we get rest for a while� until He decides that we need to be improved in this or that, according to His perfect will.
In each of those moments of relief, we are sitting with God in a senator He made available along this path we must walk, I would stick to him with such force that I would become part of Him, like in the beginning, before being sent here ...
For the moment... Yes, we have no option, we have only the best option... learning... so we can come back like warriors-pearls made up of unbreakable and shiny steel.
Talking about our hearts and souls and not about the bodies' aging ... We all are like kids... we never stopped being kids... the adult side is just another part of us... attached to the child He created...
Thing we should not lose no matter the situation we are in... FAITH... not mentioning Patience and Control, Practice Sense and Wisdom, etc, etc... because all of them are submitted to FAITH... and FAITH is given by LOVE, by HIM...
I am right in this order?
A group hug would be so nice!!! but... this planet is so wide!!!
Ok... group HUG!! :angel: Thank you all for your beautiful and God revealing replies... God sent us angels in one another... Thunder, Arch, Agnos... I appreciate that you guys (and gal) have the wonderful ability to analogize that which I try to say so often in just the right way. I wish I could do that! River, SOS... God bless you...
The power of our testimonies IS what gives others often the support needed to continue on in the faith and walk in Christ. Yes,"iron sharpens iron"...and you all keep me on my toes! Love you all! ~ GraceMae
Agnos, thank you for sharing that link! :applause: Very inspirational! there are several quotes that I had to capture in writing to retain for myself, and one that sticks out now for this post was... " Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can sart from new and make a brand new ending." ~ Carl Bard
