a recent discussion with faithful believers and thoughts on 2 Corinthians 12:9. some of the thoughts repeat in different scenarios to reach the many challenge our churches and families are encountering.

During a recent Bible study, one of the Bible study members noted that its congregation has dealt with many different “thorns” within these past couple of years, and a number of members continue to experience suffering – for some it is a beyond-the-scope-of-imagination-or-experience-type of suffering – even now. Unexpected, unbelievable, unimaginable things. She guided those of us gathered together with her for Bible study to the passages in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.

Verse 9 climaxes Paul’s narrative with a response from Christ Jesus to Paul’s complaint of a “thorn”— a “messenger of satan”, that God seems to have ignored or chose not to address as Paul desired: Jesus tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  The study group had a meaningful and encouraging discussion about it. Iron sharpened iron; we were all edified by this Spirit-informed conversation.

Whatever Paul’s “thorn” was, no one knows; what Paul does say is that whatever it was, that it was completely opposite of all of the favor, the many blessings and gifts bestowed upon him by God (like, for example, Paul was so powerfully used by God that his handkerchief even “contained” miraculous healing! See Acts 19:11-12). Whatever the thorn was, it was enough to render him weak in ability and/or capacity, and seemingly on some level, was emotionally troubling as well. Yet, in this passage, we see the permissive will of God: in His knowing Paul since before the foundation of the world, he who was once Saul of Tarsus, a self-righteous Pharisee of incredible intellect – God could use the “thorn” of Paul’s suffering as a powerful demonstration of His grace to Paul. God turns such thorns into “sacred instruments” in His providence.

More on “The Thorn”
and Jesus' Answer. 

Paul was not a superman, even though we may see him through the Biblical accounts in a magnified way. When we closely examine his life, we quickly see that Paul did not stay on the “mountain top” for any long stretch of time; he was mostly on the sides of the mountain or traversing the valley – sometimes a very dark valley at the end of which was persecution or imprisonment. He was just as much flesh and blood as you and I – he lived in a society that disregarded the God of all heavens like today. He was as fallible as you and I. Acts 9:1 says that as a Pharisee he was intent on murdering believers; he himself admits in 1 Corinthians 15:9 that he was undeserving of being an apostle because of his background. As we read in Acts and in the letters Paul was inspired to write, he strives to emulate Christ in nearly every human way, but Paul was not fully God as Jesus was. So, whatever his thorn was, it wasn’t just debilitating – it was a deeply humbling situation, because it sent Paul crying to his God for relief three times (in Jewish culture, repeating something three times was the ultimate penultimate). It became a distraction, one that could take his focus off the ministry he was assigned. He just wanted God to fix “it” so that he could do the work he was called to do.

Yet, God in His wisdom and omniscience foreknew this circumstance. It could potentially become a seed bed for a kind of pride not befitting of the one anointed by God for His purpose. Continued distraction of trying to puzzle out the "why" could shift his focus to trying to get to the bottom of why, of trying to justify himself on his works, to make him ineffective in his ministry. So Paul had to be reminded that everything he needed to continue and endure was already in him, and around him. Paul was indwelt and covered by God’s special Grace, a Grace that filled Paul with God’s strength and power. This Grace of power and strength not only enabled Paul to speak the Spirit’s words (1 Corinthians 14:2,18) and to fully identify with the Gospel of Christ (Romans 2:16, 16:25), God’s power in Paul transformed him. Christ’s Spirit – the Lord Himself -- God’s special Grace, sustained Paul throughout his ministry which was frequently punctuated with physical suffering, setbacks, discouragement (2 Corinthians 11:23-33; Galatians 3:1-3; Acts 15:37-38; 2 Timothy 1:15; 4:9-12, 14-18). In the strength and joy of the Lord, to whom Paul was yoked, Paul was empowered to carry out the immense charge and responsibility God had placed upon him to plant communities of worship in Asia and Europe. As Paul would say from time to time, it would appear that he did have reason to boast. Yet, the presence of the thorn reminded him of how helpless he was; it is hard to boast when you are down on your knees or face before the LORD seeking solace and aid. Despite Paul's powerful gifts, he was incapable of healing and fixing the situation - God did not allow him to do so.  

In these last days filled with crises of one kind or another, especially those that are so unexpected and shocking, we, too, need to be reminded of who we are. That we are indwelt with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that we have a supernatural power from God to help us remain faithful to our call and to our God. That in God’s permissive will He is guiding us towards a future with Him, and sometimes it takes a “thorn” to reset us and remind us that we can do nothing without God, and that He is in control of all things for a purpose still as yet unrevealed. That Paul's misery is a Example of the early church fellowship and care.

recorded account in scripture, it would appear that - in addition, God could use the example of Paul’s determined perseverance and endurance in the face of his suffering as a teaching example that harmonized with the cautions and admonitions that he shared with recipients of his apostolic and Spirit-directed letters. He was God’s example to the newly converted and established churches of what the power of God that indwells Christ followers could do in the purpose of God and in the face of significant challenge. 

When one examines the first 100 years of Christianity, immediately one sees that it was no “picnic” – not even close. Although false prophets preached a type of prosperity gospel back then, the Christian life would not have reflected such teaching. Those faithful followers who had some measure of wealth, or who had been blessed with provisions, shared it with community (see 2 Corinthians 8). The food insecurities, housing insecurities, the religious oppression from Jewish and idol worshipers, tax burdens that could result in loss of property, family members, and jail, diseases and more were all a part of the common daily experience in that environment that impacted all, even faithful Christians. Even with the healing gifts of some within the Christian community, life was still difficult and death was not a stranger. There are miraculous deliveries and rescues, but they were not the experience of everyone in the body of Christ. (see Revelation 2 and 3) 

Paul and the other apostles always pointed to Christ and His promises of salvation, indicating that salvation did not assure a “smooth ride to heaven.” Christians’ earthly journey then and throughout all time through to the present would be accompanied by various kinds of pain and suffering because (1) they bore the name of Jesus, and (2) because people – Christians included -- carry the impacts of Adam’s sin in our broken bodies. (look up in your Bible concordance or in online Bible search engines words like suffer, pain, illness, disease, persecution, etc.) Yet, in the suffering that emanates from those things, God would reveal Himself to His people in ways not experienced in times of peaceful calm.  

As eloquent and “spiritual” as all of this sounds, even “idyllic” – the words of the 2 Corinthians message disturb us, does not sit well in our “modern times” of what we believe an Almighty, loving God looks like. May be okay for some religious leaders and pious Christians, but “regular” people? We are stumped that Paul, this pearl in God’s kingdom, this powerful witness for God would not get healed by God of something that was for Paul so troubling, so painful, was so distracting to his ministry. All God had to do was speak it and Paul would be healed and then could carry out the ministry to an even higher level - right?

In our catastrophes, in our “spiritual attacks” which often come out of the blue (I am defining spiritual attacks here as direct harassment by satan that can come in diverse ways, e.g., health crisis/prolonged chronic health issues, financial crises, relationship crises, violence, etc.); in our befuddlement and agony, we faithful, like Paul, ask why me, Lord? Why did you let this happen? Why didn’t you stop it? I know this is true personally because I’ve said it, and in many conversations with other believers in ours and other churches of God in all kinds of different circumstances, I’ve heard it said. Like me, sometimes with a lot of emotion and tears.

It is a hard scripture passage to swallow, and we all agreed on that point. It is personal. That is, it is a situation that unsettles us, troubles our spirits, gives us cause to "pause". Its companion scripture at Romans 8:28, which also has a hard message inherent in it, sometimes gets carelessly used as a bandaid: “We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” Say that 3 times and bam! You’re good. The bandaid goes on and all is well. No; sure, you can say it scores of times, but in human experience all is not well. For whatever reason, God has not removed the “thorn”. It seems as if, to us, who are in deep and raw pain, like He doesn't know it is there because, like Paul, we are waiting for the divine resolution - that becomes our focus. The crisis does not immediately disappear. The miscarriage does not reverse. The bullet does not return to the gun. Time does not roll back the vehicle accident. The diagnosis more often than not is not a mistake - it is real. The abuse and violations of one's personhood do not unhappen.

What we do not often grasp in Romans 8:28 is the depth of what those “all things” are; our focus is on God making things good. But what if that disturbing situation is a gateway to good? 

God contrasts those “all things” against a divine transforming goodness – which is a certain clue that "all things" must be hard, difficult or even traumatic - otherwise, God would not have to step in to transform or change the "all things". We begin to see that these Roman 8:28 “things” to indeed be difficulties, challenges, traumas and tragedies; they are the epitome of that “thorn” of Paul’s. And, like with Paul, they leave us helpless.

We are like Paul: we don't like it; we do not understand; we sit perplexed and keep asking God why, and He doesn’t answer, not even one syllable. We cry, we beg, we become frustrated, inordinately perplexed, we get angry (if we are honest, we do get angry with God) because of the unexpected, undesired and deeply painful circumstance that God will not fix, or that God allowed to happen. Is He not Jehovah Rapha – Jehovah God our Healer? Is He not Jehovah Jireh – Jehovah God our Provider? Is He not LORD Sabbaot – Jehovah God, Host of the Heavenly Armies? Is He not Jehovah Rohi – Jehovah our Shepherd? Is He not El Roi – the God Who Sees!? Is He not Jehovah Chesed – God of Mercy and Love? Then, why??? Did I do something wrong and am now being punished? Is that how it is, Lord?

In her Gospel song and expanded prayer, “Held,” Natalie Grant puts to music the shocking, terrible, and painful loss of her friend’s two month old baby, and tries to understand the why of having something so "sacred torn from your life, but you survive" in the wake of such. Why "there was no sudden healing," "who told us we'd be rescued and why should we be saved from nightmares”, “we who believe?” "we who have died to live - it's unfair?" We cry, It's not fair! and we continually ask Why??? She concludes,  finally, "that the promise was when everything fell, we'd be held." 

Gospel songwriter Bart Millard (MercyMe) takes his so bewildering daily struggle of caring for a beloved child who has juvenile diabetes, the crises of sugar imbalances and the scary times they share in that journey, the sorrow of knowing he cannot save his child from the condition that can go awry at any moment and place his son in the emergency room, again – and he turns his painful reality into a song called “Even If”. The song says, “what do I say when I’m held to the flame like I am right now? I know You’re able and I know You can, save through the fire with Your mighty hand, but even if You don’t, my hope is You alone; I know the sorrow and I know the hurt, would all go away if You just say the word, but, even if You don’t, my hope is You alone…” How can he say that? For a while, he couldn’t. He couldn't see a happy ending. For Christians who have similar circumstances even we ask, How can I say that as I watch my child in a hospital bed with more tubes than I can count? Or hold onto my child as they begin painful medical procedures, or have to go the morgue to identify my child's body? Bart tells us, even with tears and in helplessness, even if he cannot see any movement towards a healing outcome, and that his sorrows all seem to have somehow bypassed God, that we must remind ourselves of who God is and who we are to Him. That even though we are like grass that fades when the harsh wind blows, how can we not say those words? How can we not say those words that even if you don't heal my child, my sister, my brother, my spouse, my mother, my father: no matter what, God - I will still trust you. I will still trust you.

God did not send Jesus to the cross for us to have everlasting life in these bodies and in this world. God loves us too much to impose an eternity of pain and suffering on His children. He placed Jesus on the cross so that when all righteousness is executed, we could have a hope, a “blessed assurance” that what God has promised will come to pass and that we will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14-15). We need to believe it even though we can't understand it, and yes, that is hard, it is so hard to praise and trust God in such times. This world conditions us to think that we can solve our problems through sheer determination, that when we do all of our Christian service, we deserve to have our problems solved. There are some preachers who will tell you the same thing. But we cannot understand God's ways because we are not God - His ways and work do not follow human logic. (Isaiah 55:8-11) Notice that God says (NRSV) that His Word "shall accomplish that which I purpose; and succeed in the thing for which I sent it." What His purpose is and what His will is in a given circumstance will be revealed in God's timing. He Who sees the end from the beginning and lives in the eternal present operates on a level we cannot reach in our flesh.

Horatio Spafford processes his indescribable grief and loss, putting those jagged emotions into words: “though satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control: that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed His own blood for my soul”, in the hymn that became, “It is Well with My Soul.” He sent his wife and daughters on a ship across the ocean with plans to join them later. But a tragic accident during the crossing resulted in the death of his four daughters; he had previously lost a son to scarlet fever. 

All of these persons and countless others – and that number will keep growing – who have walked a dark path, suffered unique pain and loss like some of us reading this, have had their faith tested as if by fire. As one person put it, they have "been to the cross". There are a number of Bible-based hymns and gospel songs that are Spirit-inspired to encourage and strengthen us during difficulties, and that praise the God of all comfort and encouragement. Singing the words and promises of God is comforting and like balm to our spirit. When we truly know God as a comforter and encourager - when our hearts are tied inexplicably to Him, our Shepherd, even though the pain remains, the tears return unbidden, the raw emotion comes out of a secret place, and the difficult conditions continue, we can turn to Him and seek His face and words of comfort through song and prayer in the Spirit based on His scripture. 

A number of church communities that have suffered losses during the pandemic and are struggling to return to in-person, are finding it challenging on many levels. Some of their members are still reeling from the after-effects of COVID, suffering long-COVID, and are enduring other complications such as chronic diseases, loss of employment and income, housing insecurity, trying to make ends meet. Add to those challenges, very unexpected and unanticipated crises that have befallen them, some worship communities are finding themselves being held to the flame in ways we could have never imagined, through trials and revelations that rip through us like a sharp talon; situations that cause us to have flashes of waking nightmares that seem to never end. Even though we know the end time prophecies backward and forward; what we didn't know was how they would feel, how they would impact us, and how would our faith stand up? And then, when all of the angst bears down on us mightily, we hear Jesus tell us His grace is sufficient. How do we respond to Christ? How well do we know the author of that Grace? I'm not talking about the children's picture book version, nor the little baby in the manger version, but rather the version where Jesus shows Himself disgraced on the cross for us, the version where Jesus emerges with power incorruptible from the tomb after 3 days dead, the version Jesus shows us of Himself ascending victoriously to heaven, the version Jesus shows us of Himself in

                         The Revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  

King Jesus, Mighty God, Eternal Father
Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega 

We need to seek this Jesus Christ with all fervor, we need to comprehend what His grace is, we need to know how to live in that divine Grace and experience its strength and power just as Paul had to learn to experience it. Don't wait until the fury of hell is upon us to try to establish our relationship with Jesus. We need to start now, on our knees, with the knees of our hearts bent in submission to Him, with our Bibles open before us, waiting for God. While we wait, we are to be working in His purpose (thus we need to know what God's purpose is for us - not what we wish God to do for us), we need to be praising and adoring Him, and living lives of praise. We are to be worshiping Him in obedience - obedience is essential (contemplate Jesus' words recorded below as if you were there when He said them: John 14:21, 23-24; 15:7,9-10,14 - see His face in your mind's eye as He spoke those words to His closest friends). We need to remember and embrace the truth that God has placed within us who are saved and being sanctified a supernatural power through His Spirit to enable us to do the work He has called us to do in His power. "If God is for us who can stand against us?" (Romans 8:31) That same Spirit determines what that will look like as He makes us like Christ, transforms us for living into eternity with the Lord.

When we become able to grasp and experience the fullness of God’s special grace in us, we will see God taking our pain and suffering and using them as sacred instruments to deepen our trust in and relationship with Him, to learn the hidden treasures God reveals in that divine space (Isaiah 45:3; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). We may not know on this side of heaven why God permitted these things, but we can be assured that God will use our difficult circumstances in a way that will shatter our doubts, increase our faith, will bless us and others, and glorify His name. Those are the “good” of Romans 8:28.

As long as we are in the flesh, we will want to continue to lean into Jesus, to know Him as the embodiment of all Grace, dwelling within us as we travel a journey where the path is narrow, where there are obstacles – hills and valleys, where there are no U-turn signs, where there is no apparatus to process our agony other than God’s provision, and where we stumble and fall from the crushing weight of the circumstance. We will at times not know where or how we are going and getting through this because the attacks are so sharp and unrelenting. 

No, it is not easy; God did not promise that Fair nor Easy would be our constant companions on this journey. Instead, He promised that He would be. That He would not only walk with us, but guide us through. That He would commune with us, set a table of sweet communion in the presence of our enemies and our “thorns” - who and whatever they are. He takes us on our journey into places of oases – prayer and fellowship, worship with those of the Body of Christ – others who also travel the narrow path to refresh and encourage us. (1 Corinthians 12:26; 2 Corinthians 1:3-6; 1 Peter 5:9)  Friends, those of us who have been on this road in our journey know that it takes more than an "acquaintance" with Jesus to be able to find that solace, that healing of heart and spirit. If we are skimpy in our relationship with Jesus during so-called easy times, when the mountains fall on us, we do not have a firm hold on who our Savior is and are at our wit's end trying to cope on so many levels. Don't believe those false "prosperity gospel" promises - that if you go to church, donate a lot of money, and do good deeds you will have a life of ease and material blessings, and cannot be hurt by anything. Hard times are going to come - no matter if you are a believer or if you are a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ as God and Savior. We will all be touched by pain and suffering at some point in our lives as long as we live in these bodies and on earth - for some, it may be for prolonged periods.

Those who do believe in Jesus, when we entreat His presence and participate in that communion He has graced us with, we are enabled to choose to not be discouraged, to choose to have a joy that is a “settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of [our lives], the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right [in God’s timing and in God’s way], and [to translate our circumstance] through the determined choice to praise God in all things.”[1] For us who love God and are called according to His purpose, we receive the strength and power of His Grace. The Spirit of Christ living in us Who is greater than our worst enemy. (1 John 4:4) Even with tears. Even though the storm rages and our physical self is buffeted and we are knocked off our feet. Even in our deepest of sorrows and our most raw emotions, God is here with us; His Grace comes upon us powerfully. That same grace will heal our broken hearts and spirits and aliven us so that we may come to know and cherish that He is our hope alone 2], and in both awe and renewed commitment, we will hear ourself say “it is well with my soul, for His grace is sufficient.”

 

Dr. Charles Stanley recently aired a two-part series on “Our Great Encourager”. This first part in a series offers knowledge on understanding who God our comfort is - Part 1, and in Part 2, the message continues as to how God encourages us in our difficulties. https://www.intouch.org/listen/radio/our-great-encourager-part-1; 

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[1] Excerpts from “Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn’t Enough,” Kay Warren, Revel Publishing. 2012.

[2] Ephesians 1; 2:4-10; Philippians 4:1-9; 2 Peter 1:1-4

Trials - Our Proving Ground

Who hasn't heard from the pulpit that God allows us to go through difficulties to build our faith? (if you haven't perhaps you should ask your minister why hasn't that been preached) In fact, one of the less fully understood scriptures in the Bible, often quoted by churchgoers when difficulties occur: Romans 8:28, is God's oath to us - but do we truly understand its depth? 

The greatest teacher of all time, our Lord Jesus Christ, clearly taught His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, as recorded in John 15:18-16:4, 16:31-33 that because of His name that we bear, that we, too, will be treated as He was treated because the world, which is under the power of satan and his demons, hated Him and sought to kill Him on more than one occasion. He experienced the extreme trial. Thousands of true believers since that time have also experienced the extreme trial - torture and death for their faith in Christ.  

And then there is the subtle trial - finding ourself under the sway of false teaching. All of the lies and misinformation contained in so-called prosperity gospels - which promise a gilded life when becoming a follower of Christ - are a tool of satan to destroy our faith in the true God. When we hear that we should be having a grand and glorious life here on earth and that doesn't happen, we are told it is because of some kind of sin we have committed against God that has not been resolved, or the 'sin' of not releasing all your financials to the organization promoting such false gospel. Or, experiencing a terrible disaster, or that if a loved one or oneself suffers a crippling disease, or sickness leading to death, it is because we have not believed God hard enough. (compare John 9:1-3) The faith of that person and the opportunity to have a true relationship with Christ can become undermined by the lies, shattered in discouragement, defeatism, because of the false picture of God painted for them by false teachers. 

It is, therefore, extremely vital to know who God is, why we are here, and what truly says. All of this can be sought after through an understanding of Bible scripture using teachers gifted by God to earnestly teach the word of God's truth, through application of such, and prayer. (compare Romans 10:1-4, 9-17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-3:9) 

For those of us who are in Christ, then, this message is for us to consider as we endure the trials that have come, are here now, and those that will come on us, both individually and as a worship community. We are not immune to suffering and trials as indicated above, but how should we respond?

When we consider just what a trial is, using the legal sense of the word, we know it to be a time to prove something, to have evidence and testimony to prove that an unlawful action or wrong done against someone will be rightly judged and that the party who suffered receives justice. This endeavor is a process accomplished through a trial - a platform structured to bring such evidence and testimony before an impartial judge who is entrusted to rule in favor of what is right, what is just. My generation grew up watching Perry Mason on TV - a drama about an attorney who was skilled in counseling his clients and for using evidence and testimony to win their case; to keep the series interesting, every now and then the client was proved by Mr. Mason to be the guilty party. Today's generation watches TV programs such as Law and Order, where both prosecutors and criminal lawyers fight for a form of justice that provides for some satisfaction of the law and intent of the law.

A trial for a believer in Christ is also a process, a time to determine - in this case - our faith status, is it strong and stable, or waivering. In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to instruct many believers of his day who were of Jewish heritage, and those Gentiles who would also come to believe in the God of Moses and His Son Jesus Christ - the Greater Moses, using the evidence and testimony of those ancestors to illumine how our faith is tried. (the Hebrews "faith honor roll" offers examples of what kind and temperature of faith pleases God.) And there are Bible accounts of how faith sometimes fails the trial - take some time to search through your browser for such examples of failing faith. God makes provisions for all of us to grow our faith to become tensile in strength - a faith that endures the stretching and intensity of the test that it comes under. We may choose to absorb all of those provisions, or we may choose to utilize only some of what God provides. 

Comparing it to a diet: protein from different sources serves to build us up physically. If we choose a diet rich in carbohydrates, but lacking in protein, our stamina may have a bright spark for a minute but suffer or fail because we did not have a strong foundation that the protein provides. In the scripture passage in 1 Corinthians the people relished the blessings of God but did not fully internalize the power of God's Word and the obedience opportunities He provided to strengthen them. That choice led to a faith failure. They could not resist the popular heathen practices of the surrounding nations, their worship of Jehovah through the provisions He made for them to stay whole and blessed was set aside for tantalizing pleasures that eroded their moral cores. Or even attempting to test God - exacting from Him what they demanded He should do to make their lives more pleasant, saying that God would get a bad reputation if He didn't. 

Paul sums up these examples, saying, "So, if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall." Because the tests or trials will come, and if you are not prepared in mind and spirit to endure - if you have not taken on all of God's provision for faith victory, then you could fall. Verse 13 ends the passage: "No testing [trial] has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." Faithful believers who have striven for obedience before God can hold onto that promise that God will not allow you to be in a situation that He will not be able to bring you through. Faith victory does not mean we will always "win" the situation or oppression by getting fully delivered out of it to keep our body or life, or even our reputation safe from the painful effects of difficult situations. Faith victory means that we will not lose our faith even when faced with harsh treatment or death. It is that persevering faith that keeps before us the open door to eternal life - God will not allow that to be taken away. (see also Romans 8:31-39)

Today as I write this blog article, there are scores of faithful people being persecuted because they have identified themselves with Christ; some of them will be tortured and abused, may even die. However, they are still victors as they refuse to renounce Jesus in the face of such brutality. Those abused and maltreated persons who survive may carry the scars in their bodies and or in their hearts straight through to glory, where we will be made whole. (Also see  Revelation 3:7-13; 7:9-17; John 10:1-30) A faith victory story from scripture revolves around the destruction of ancient Judah in the 6th century BC. The prophet Habakkuk was witness to the great disaster of Judah and Jerusalem - when the Babylonians (or Chaldeans as some Bible versions name them) came up against Habakkuk's land in 539 BC. The destruction was vicious and left little for the survivors. The actions by Babylon were a result of the nation of Judah's apostasy; God removed His protection from the majority of land and peoples. Although Habakkuk knew the reason and purpose, he still had a waiver of faith as he actually witnessed the destruction taking place and the accompanying trauma and danger. It shook him to the core of his being to the extent that he began to question God's mercy! Yet just as quickly as the urge to do so came, just as quickly it vanished. We see at the end of chapter 3 that Habakkuk fully accepted the sovereign right and will of Jehovah, praised Him and even rejoiced at what He was accomplishing through the removal of the apostate nation. He recommitted an even deeper faith; what initially looked like a failure became a determined faith victory!! 

In 1917, during what subsequently be named World War I, nation after nation was devastated by conquerors for nearly four years, who, using weapons of destruction never before experienced, sought to control the world. The U.S. had been very reluctant to enter the war during the years it raged for various reasons. After a German U-boat sunk the British cruise liner Lusitania in 1915 killing over 100 Americans, and then the ensuing attacks and sinking of American ships by the German war machine, the U.S. was forced to respond and entered the war in the spring of 1917. The then U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, in October 1917, by executive order, established the Aberdeen Proving Ground, which officially opened in December 1917. Through the order, the Army had taken over 69,000 acres of land and water in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay to provide an area for design and testing of ordnance. The order transitioned its operations and testing ground for proof and acceptance of ammunition and cannon from New Jersey to the Chesapeake Bay site. The site would expand to include testing of chemical weapons, research, development and general test facilities. Testing fields and operations by military are essential to determine if the weapons developed would hold up and be effective under war conditions and accomplish what they were designed to do. The testing is designed to eliminate any defective machinery or weaponry that would fail under extreme war, climate, utilization, and other situations. The Aberdeen Proving Ground continues to operate after over 100 years.

The world is a testing ground for our faith wherever the Church is found whether it be a dangerous country or a tolerant one. Jesus foretold that in the John 16 reference above - that in the world we would have persecution and suffering; this is the venue where our faith is tried.

On a personal note, over the course of a couple of years, I experienced trial after trial after trial - some very major and painful to the bone, and some not as major in comparison. I knew in my spirit that God was growing me because of something that was to occur at some point. He kept permitting tests to visit me and they had the best effect in bringing me to my knees to receive God's love and consolation, but especially His strength and direction. I had no clue what was coming, but felt in my spirit it was going to be something big - something with the capacity to rock my faith; by His gracious urgings I kept praising and praying, kept growing. Stayed in His Word, giving Him thanks for nurturing me and asking for His abundant strength and grace as I could sense the time getting closer. And when it hit, it knocked me down - it was so awful, forceful and overwhelming that I could not process it all at once; to say it was traumatic is barely scraping the surface. But for God's nurturing me and growing me through those many tests, I am not sure how I would have kept standing - even if I am soaked in tears while I stand. Pain - especially emotional pain - can be relentless and/or can arise out of no where and overwhelm you when you least expect it for a while. I cannot say - because I can barely see past a nano-second - that I will ever recover fully in this life time. It may continue to be a raw wound until heaven when I will be fully healed - Hallelujah. Trust me - I had no part in the strength and grace that is still bringing me through. Even my "yes, Lord" is authored by what He has done in my spirit. The valley is deep and dark, but God's light is on the edge and is leading me through like a beacon. By His love and mercy, by His unlimited grace, He is holding me in His victorious right hand and guiding me over the treacherous faith traps. He is teaching me things about His love, patience, lovingkindness I could never know if I had not experienced this trauma. To God be the glory in all things. Thank you, Father. 

Back to Romans 8:28 - this is a mini-Bible study all by itself. One of the first things that this scripture promises is that trials and sufferings will happen - it is not a matter of if, but when. Some of those trials will be heart-rendering. The second thing we are confronted with - even though it is not specifically stated but certainly implied, are more questions to be answered about God's character, His sovereignty, His being a Creator, His omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience. All of these factor into the statement, "called according to His purpose." What is God's purpose? Better asked, what is God's purpose for me and individuals? It may also be asked, what is God's purpose for humanity, for the earth, for all of creation? How does my life fold into God's greater purposes with creation? What does it mean to "love God"? What does God's love look like in return? How do "we know" these things? How does God turn these terrible events into good? What is "good"? I would encourage everyone to consider these questions as part of disciplining ourselves towards strengthened faith.

In Jesus' high priestly prayer on the night before His crucifixion as recorded in John 17, He prays for those apostles and all who would come to believe in Him through their teaching and witness, that God would protect them - not just physically according to His will, but primarily that they will remain faithful in the world. He prayed for God's love to be in all of them and that such love would be as strong a bond as that between the Father and Son. Jesus asks the Father not to take them out of the world, as it is to the world that they  have been sent to teach the Gospel of freedom and love, and where their enduring faith would serve as a testimony through the tests they would encounter. They would glorify God's name in obedience to His will. (see 2 Peter 3:8-18)

Later on in Paul's second letter to the church at Corinth, the Holy Spirit would instruct Paul to record at 2 Corinthians 13 that 'testing' is not just an external experience. Like at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the testing is done long before weaponry is commissioned for use by military personnel. The staff at the proving ground must test the materials and equipment ahead of its employment during a military conflict or war to see if indeed they can withstand the fierceness of battle. Verse 5 (using the Amplified Version Classic) tells us that we are to "Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?" In other words, don't wait until the fire is on you to know the strength of your faith - find out now if you are living in the will of God and growing your faith. Are we bearing fruit worthy of one who is committed to the work of the Lord in both our lives and in our ministries? (ALL Christians have a ministry, not just ordained people.)

We will suffer in trials brought on by the conniving evil one. That truth is inescapable as long as we live in this world. If we suffer because we are doing wrong things, disobeying Christ, then it is not the kind of Biblical suffering due to the Name we bear that Jesus was referring to in John 16 above. When we sin against God, sin will have its consequences - even if we are Christian. The apostle John's letters to the Ephesian Christians and to all who would come after them confirms this in 1 John 1, starting at verse 5 (AMP): "And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way]. [So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both] speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel presents]. But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts]. If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us [the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts]." Are we confessing our sins or are we deceived into believing we do not sin, because friends, as long as we are in these imperfect bodies we will sin. But we have God's promise of forgiveness when we confess and repent.

So, how should we respond to trials and intensified attacks? Do we just say, "well it is God's will and He will remove the problem." Hmmm, that sounds good. Let's look at this: when Jesus was tempted face to face by the devil (Luke's Gospel at 4:1-13 details for us that Jesus was tested 40 days and nights - not just on three occasions). On those three occasions that the Holy Spirit had recorded in scripture, how did Jesus respond? Now, remember, even if in the flesh, Jesus was still God and could have ended the conflict with a word that would send the devil into oblivion, i.e., He could have retaliated in a death-dealing way, but that was not within the will or timing of the Father, nor would we have learned anything useful in such situations as we cannot fight the devil with physical weapons, nor can we call down hellfire on him successfully. Jesus tells us in John 10 that the devil attacks us to accomplish one or all three of these things: to steal, to kill, and to destroy. In all three of those instances it is not just the body he seeks to harm; he goes for the jugular - our faith. It is the faith of the believer that he wants to steal, that he wants to kill, that he wants to destroy. He has thousands of years of experience at the job - just check his resume in scripture and secular records. So when he in all arrogance approaches the Son of God in those three recorded instances in Matthew 4:1-11 and in the Luke Gospel cited above, he attempts to entice Jesus to worship and obey him by actually quoting scripture and appealing to what he surmised was 'weakenness' in Jesus now that Jesus was in the flesh. So what did Jesus say each time: "It is written." He recited the scriptures that addressed the ruse and temptation of the devil. Can we do that? Can we recognize the devil's tricks, what scripture is being violated or twisted to be used to deceive? Can we say and pray in the midst of suffering the scriptures that address the attack and can we do that in all trust and belief in what God's Word is saying? Or, is our first response that of complaining about our circumstance and perhaps correctly identifying the devil as the source of the matter, and asking God to tell us, to justify to us why He is letting this happen? 

Did you read that? Say it out loud - are we asking or even demanding God to tell us why, to justify for us why He is letting these things happen to us? Why me, Lord? Haven't I been good, haven't I obeyed you? Why are you punishing me? In all honesty, that is the usual human response and we all may have been prone to go that route. I confess that I have more than once. I thus refer us to James chapter 1. God is telling us through James to rejoice in the face of trials and suffering. Whaaaaaat????? Did you know that God may use pain and suffering as sacred instruments to help us strengthen our faith because if we know and love God, such trials lead us speedily and directly to Him to rely even more so on His love and peace. It reminds me of God's promise in Malachi 3:2-3, that God will purify us to become the full righteousness of God, and His methods of purification often come through trials! The sacred instruments are sacred in God's use of them, as He further deepens our relationship with Him. Pain and suffering also places us in partnership with Christ in a unique way as we saw in the passages above, so that we share in His sufferings in a way that does not lead to faith death, but instead to faith victory: a deeper faith and trust in the Only True God, the only Sustainer and Perfector of our faith. In our holding steadfast in faith during trials, we acquire through God's grace in a new intimacy with Him - one so close that He reserves special communion, a special treasure in such intimacy. (Isaiah 45:3; Psalm 23:4-5)  

Faith goes beyond the natural - it is a spiritual connection to God. And, also the fact that our endurance is not of ourselves - we cannot within our own power fight the forces of the devil (reference Ephesians 6:10-18 which is an incredible source of wisdom and strength on how to arm ourselves against the devil's schemes). Thus, in these battles, we have strong communion with Christ, we have the power of the heavenly hosts with us, we have the all-seeing God who knows the end from the beginning on our side. The God of all the universe fighting for us! This is why we rejoice. We rejoice also because our testimony goes ahead of us and speaks truth into others' hearts who are undergoing similar trials. 

God determines the battle to be fought; we may not fully understand just what that is, only that we are suffering by what is happening. Because God is over all things, is Almighty and Omnipotent, He can never lose a battle. We may think God has lost because we did not get the outcome we wanted, but God never loses. His thoughts and ways are beyond our comprehension; we cannot see His entire plan in any circumstance. We cannot understand how He will turn our seeming loss into a tangible winning outcome on a spiritual and natural level. But - we can trust the end of His plans to be victorious and righteous, and to glorify Himself. (see Deuteronomy 10:14-15; Psalm 89:11; Isaiah 55:6-11; 1 Samuel 2:2; 1 King 8:23; 

(I can use the example of the terrible pandemic that initially took the lives of thousands; when vaccines and other measures were made accessible to fight this microscopic virus, did this not bring us a kind of joy to know that we now had at our disposal a means to wage war. We also learned that behavior changes were required to fight this war successfully - changes that were not always received well. Sadly, those who refused the power outside of themselves to fight the virus succumbed to its terror.)

God promises to His faithful ones are contained throughout the Bible. When we are on the proving grounds of this world, may we endeavor to allow the provisions and tools God has created and gifted to us in order to establish a rock-solid faith that will withstand the test and make us more than conquerors by faith!

A prayer from St. Augustine (adapted):

Almighty God, you know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking: Set your servants free from all anxious thoughts about the future, give us contentment with your good gifts; and confirm our faith and charge our hearts and spirits to continue to grow deeper into you, so that as we seek your kingdom first, as you have promised, you will bless us in our need and not let us lack any good thing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.