For thought and meditation

[rl69]

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

—2 Corinthians 4:8

Sometimes people think that when they are in the will of God, they’ll have smooth sailing. However, that was not true of the apostle Paul. He seemed to face every kind of adversity imaginable. He had so many enemies who were jealous of his success that they would follow him around and undermine him, intending to actually destroy him. He had so many setbacks in life that involved beatings and physical harm. And he had a physical disability that he wanted to be healed of, but the Lord said no.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” (4:8–9).

Today lot of preachers love to focus on prosperity, and some are even classified as prosperity preachers. I think, unfortunately, they have hijacked a biblical word. For many, prosperity means you will never be sick. You will never have problems, and life is going to be just great.

The reality is that you can live a prosperous life in the will of God and still face conflict. Paul went through shipwreck on his way to Rome, but he had a prosperous journey by the will of God because of what it ultimately accomplished.

We all will face storms, difficulties, and yes, shipwrecks, in some way, shape, or form. We cannot control the circumstances that come our way, but we can control our reaction to them.

When storms come our way, when hardship strikes, what we do is our choice. We can get mad at God. We can get bitter. Or, we can completely surrender and say, “Lord, I trust You no matter what.”

[USMC87]

Thank you for the great lesson, Amen.

[Boaz]

Thank you rl69 .

[Pine Baron]

"We cannot control the circumstances that come our way, but we can control our reaction to them.... Lord, I trust You no matter what.”
Thank you rl69.

[square butte]

Its a message I rely on every day - Some days I do a better job than others. Appreciate the morning word and scripture rl69

[buckwheatpaul]

As this day draws to an end I would like to thank you for the lesson and tending to our souls as well. Paul

[Traffer]

I can attest from first hand experience that hardships and suffering CAN cause a condition in life that affords us a great opportunity to draw near to the Lord. I was in a mental institution back in the early 80's and found a guy reading a book in a foreign language. I quickly realized that he was reading the Old Testament in Hebrew. I asked him "what are you doing, reading the old testament in Hebrew?" He simply replied "yes". We ended up becoming friends. He was a paranoid schizophrenic and had some very disturbing thoughts. But he was a genius and quite a Biblical Scholar. He taught himself to read Hebrew while living under a bush covered with a tarp in California. When I met him he had been living in a box under a bridge in Chelsea MA for the past 5 years. In all, since he left his job as an electron microscope technician for Harvard Medical School, in around 1968 he had lived homeless on the streets. He lived in boxes and under bridges for 17 years when I met him in the 80's. Having had a background of mental illness and the suffering that usually came with it, we found we had kindred spirits. Not long later we found ourselves in a discussion about Psalm 107. A very significant message from God, I would say. In it he says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say this..." as a theme of the psalm. It speaks of some of the hardships that God's people endured before finally turning to Him. It is especially noteworthy that it refers to "the redeemed of the Lord". For those not redeemed by the lord do not eventually turn to him in their trials. They turn away from him growing more and more vehemently hateful of him. (there is a passage somewhere in Revelation that graphically shows that but I am not looking it up now) Back to my point here. I know of nothing more wonderful in life than the comfort I have received from God as I have gone through my troubles. I used to tell my friends at Church "Being with the Lord, I desire nothing in life". Which is absolutely true. David wrote, "Being with you, Lord, I desire nothing on Earth" But I like my translation better. Now, I must explain the path to that wonderful place just a bit. It did not come to me as a whimsical thought of "help me lord". It came through a crucible of suffering and pain, torment and agony, guilt and confusion. I cried out in my agony. Once? Several times? Nope. Every day on my knees with my face buried into the floor, for hours on end. While my "friends" told me that I was evil and divisive for challenging what I perceived as "sin" in the leadership of my congregation. If I would have had the sympathy of a friend, I would have turned to Him with that abject need that carried me over the threshold of this life . But I did not. Not one human being was willing to even listen to my pain. It there would have been, I believe that God would have remained inaccessible to me. For me it had to be a case of "I had no one to turn to but God". This is also a key to psalm 107. These people were at the very very bottom. While I had a friend, I was not at the bottom yet. (This is my experience here folks, I am relating it to demonstrate a principle that perhaps many have not considered). There is an old hymn that has the line "the worth of pain" in it. Can't remember the song but I recall when hearing it that I understood what was meant by "the worth of pain". So what is the outcome of allowing pain to drive us to our knees seeking refuge in the Lord?" Yes, "being with you Lord, I desire nothing in life".
I just blurted this out. Sorry if it has no real structure or rhyme. I hope it can show some contrast to the dramatic heresy of prosperity preaching, or whatever they call it.

[square butte]

The above post has been insightful for me - I have a brother who is a paranoid schizophrenic. He seems beyond reach most of the time. I pray much for him

[Boaz]

We ...if we think have known many that have affected our lives . Though their thoughts may not have even agreed with our own provoke thought . Thought is productive whether positive or negative in our own understanding as to where we are at in our relationship with GOD .