Often God does not rid us of difficulties because they teach and train us for when we will rule in the millennium. We are in boot camp on this earth, to learn God's ways and see how that fleshes out in real life with real people. Rulish people, that is those who depend more on ideas and rules than they do on Christ, will often get it wrong. They depend on their idea of the rules rather than thinking with the mind of Christ.
Just "knowing" something in our head does not teach us much. We must experience what we know in life to have full understanding. Its sort of like the intern fresh out of college who thinks now that they have learned from books they know more than those who have not had the books but much more life experience. Many unlearned godly people know far more than those books have within their pages. After all, men wrote the books, but God authored the Bible.
If someone has never burned themselves on a hot iron or stove, they might know that high heat is dangerous because others have said so, but they will not understand the full impact of the knowledge until we have actually been burned.
We do not like hardships, personally I wish we could learn good lessons without hardship or trials, but the reality is we cannot really learn something unless we have experienced it.
There are those who like to judge others as weak because they express that they are having pain. I have met several people like this in my life, they have little to no empathy for what others are going through. Mainly they do not believe those who have pains, therefore they are the ones who cannot hear the hard things.
This is one of the reasons I am so disgusted with "prosperity preachers", they accuse people going through trials as lacking faith. The truth of the matter is that those who go through trials are more than likely the strong ones because they can face trials and call them what they are. Their faith is immense because it has been tried, tested and come out greater than when they first began. The weak person cannot face trials or truth, it is too much for them to have to admit reality.
Nehemiah 8:10 "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.
God instructed us to focus our gaze on Him, because He knows our human emotions will cause us to falter, we must ignore our emotions to believe God.
When we face trials, call them what they are by name and trust the Lord, He becomes our strength, ultimately He is glorified.
God is not glorified in the lives of those who depend on their own strength to be their god. These people diminish the trials of others to elevate themselves. These are the weaker ones, who think they are stronger. They are not stronger they are just in denial about truth. Fearing they will appear weak to others they indulge their "appearances" while remaining weak in their spirit.
We have all heard it said that the wiser stronger man is the one who can face things and call them by name, this is true.
Pretenders are completely dependent on their own false view of themselves rather than on Christ. They can be recognized by their lack of empathy toward others who are hurting as well as their reluctance to show any weakness within themselves. Its not that they are strong because we do not see weakness, its that they are only hiding their weakness. Those who can say "I am weak but He is strong" are the ones who grow in the strength of Christ.
Isaiah 41:13
"13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’"
The prideful narcissist cannot depend on anyone else not even God. They must "appear strong" outwardly but inwardly they are cowards.
James 1:19-21
"19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls."
Next time you are tempted to evaluate someone else's pain or trials, keep in mind that we cannot know the depth of pain anyone else is going through. We only have our own limited experience. Hopefully we have had enough experience in our lives that we can draw from that to understand others in their trials.
Praise the Lord, He, through the Holy Spirit can give us empathy when we have a lack of it. He can give us understanding when there isn't any within ourselves.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
"4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,"
Christ can help us to interpret events and people when we are too weak to see truth.
John 8:44
"You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies."
Isa 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
God upholds the righteous just as we build up the brethren in faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."
Jude 1:20
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,"
Hebrews 10:24
"and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,"
Ephesians 4:15
"but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,"
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