I had a ruff night of sleeping. I have been awake more then i have slept. I have tossed and turned, been up and down and instead of giving in and taking a pain pill to make my back pain go away I suffered in stead. Why is that? Why is it at times so hard for me to give in and take a pill that i know will help my pain? I finally got up around 5 am and came down stairs and started my daily devotional time by praying and asking God to give me the knowledge and wisdom because the past few days my thoughts have really been on life and what lays ahead of me. I started with looking up 2 word definitions. The first one …
Circumstances … a condition, detail, part, or attribute, with respect to time, place, manner,agent, etc., that accompanies, determines, or modifies a fact or event; a modifying or influencing factor: Do not judge his behavior without considering every circumstance.
The 2nd one …
Free Will … free and independent choice; voluntary decision: You took on the responsibility of your own free will. Philosophy , the doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces.
All of my life I have had times when i question and wonder why life circumstances takes me where they do. But i have always believed that it’s up to each individual how they chose which path to take down that road of circumstances.
Unfortunately earth is a world where Satan (a tester of people's free will) presence is allowed to inflict (circumstances) our lives. Yes it’s true evil or bad things happen to good people. It’s hard to see a good person suffer with cancer, a child suffer with a horrible disease, see disasters happen such as flooding, tornado’s, earth quakes and etc.
It makes us question why God allows these things to happen. (just like God allowed Satan to attack Job) Sometimes I myself have questioned does God inflict these horrible things to punish us. His word tells us that he is a just God, God is our heavenly father and just like a father he disciplines his children?
(1 Cor 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
Rom 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Rev 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.)
I think back on my life and all the things i have endured. I was born into a dysfunctional family of poverty. My first son was born with a life threatening disease. A career that i enjoyed was taken from me, i suffered a debilitating injury and then a incurable illness. Endured struggles as I fought with everything i had to hang onto all that was dear to me. (For instance just recently circumstance that were out of my control happened).
In all of these situation I could have made a choice to turn from God. In fact on 2 different occasions in my life time, I have questioned my beliefs, my faith and my trust in God. Both these times I felt I was slipping away from God.
I could have chosen to give up on God. But instead, God help me find the courage and strength I needed to lean on an awesome God. Instead of running from my heavenly fathers arms, i chose to run to them. By doing so, my Lord and Savior embraced me and by doing so he confirmed I am who he created. I am who i am by enduring all of these sufferings and circumstances that have occurred in my life. I chose to renew my faith and trust in my sovereign God who is my creator, my salvation.
(Matthew 7:21-23 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.)
By reading, studying and listening to my father, by being obedient i know in my heart that pain and suffering is not inflicted on us by God. But because human flesh chose to be disobedient.
I know, I know your saying … not everyone choices to be disobedient to God. Well i hate to bust your bubble but God’s word tells us that we are all sinners. We are made of human flesh and sin is in our nature. There is no one on this earth who is perfect. The only perfect human flesh that lived on this earth gave his life for us.
Just as our for fathers fought for our freedom in this country we live in today. Our for father Adam sinned against God and created a world of sin.
(Genesis 3:16-19 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.)
So in the true sense it’s our faults that earth is a world of pain and suffering .. NOT God’s.
(II Corinthians 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
II Timothy 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance
II Cor. 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
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)
God instead loved us so much that his word tells us. Jesus his son died for you and me so that we may have salvation through grace.
(John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.)
It’s amazing how when you read God’s word and yes even though you have read these scripture over and over, each time God brings new meaning to these scriptures. When we allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our heart. It’s amazing how true the feelings of this scripture is.
(Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness)
Do you know that every time i have sinned and been disobedient to God. Every time i have asked God my Lord and Savior to forgive me as i repent for my doubts, my sinful nature and the hardness that sometimes takes over my heart when i endure suffering in pain. God embraces me, God grants me my heart feelings of peace. I know that God does live inside of me. I know that no matter what Satan inflicts on me that if i stay strong and hold fast to my Lord and Savior I too will prevail and endure and that someday i will live in heaven where God promises me no more sorrow, no more tears of pain but instead a life of eternal life that will only be joy, peace and happiness.
(Isaiah 14-: 12-15 In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.")
Here are some more verses that confirm my salvation and God’s promise to give me eternal life.
(John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Rom. 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one
Romans 4:5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Rom. 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved
Romans 10:13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away)
One last thought to leave you all with. I am thankful for all of you who follow along my adventures in life. I know sometimes you may not want to hear about my Christian walk in life but it’s the major part of who i am. I pray that you will find the same peace and happiness that God has filled my heart and soul with. Just remember what ever today may throw at you. God is there to catch when you fall. God will pick you back up if you ask him to. Tomorrow is always a better day when God leads your life.
