The trials are far less crazy making and unhappy than they used to be for me. In fact I feel stronger than I have ever been in my life, because the Lord has trained me through my trials and my confession of sin.
When a weight lifter lifts those weights over and over again he is deliberately breaking down the muscle so when they heal they come back stronger.
Often we have to break down something before we can make it better. We break the walls of an old house to put in better ones. We tear apart the seems in clothing to remake them to fit. There are so many analogies from which we can learn the principle of tearing down to build up.
Perhaps spanking a child who is disobedient is a very good example of breaking the stubborn will of the child to reshape it to be more compliant.
When a society removes all the obstacles and consequences of sin, there are no lessons. People do not change and grow if there are no trials or consequences.
We are such a paranoid culture that we are using "sanitary wipes" everywhere we go to keep from getting illnesses. The studies are showing our children are becoming sicker because they are far too protected from germs than they were 60 years ago.
Our bodies build up resistance when they come in contact with illness because it had to fight them off before, we become stronger than if we had never been sick in our lives.
The church does this with sin, as a whole most people are protecting those who sin from heartache by overlooking it, coddling and neglecting to rebuke when necessary, to help others confess and turn from their sin.
We are a culture that bails people out of their trials preventing their spiritual and emotional growth. We not only bail them out but we encourage laziness in perseverance.
Because of this mentality of protecting every one beyond what is reasonable, we have created an entire generation, perhaps two now, that cannot tolerate correction or rebuke on any level without raging.
2 Timothy 4:1-3 "1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.…"
Hebrews 12:10-12 "…10 Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a peaceful harvest of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.…"
James 1:2-7 "2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
As a culture we also direct people with trials to the "experts" instead of God. Many of the experts don't have it right in terms of trusting and waiting on God.
Egypt has always been synonymous with paganism and sinfulness. We have gone down to Egypt for our help instead of Christ.
Isaiah 31:1-2 "1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! 2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers And against the help of the workers of iniquity.…"
As a nation we have trusted in our cleverness, our leaders, our experts and ourselves to manipulate things in resolving problems. We did all this instead of turning to Christ for our help.
As a result of our own self-righteousness and confidence we have killed our babies instead of caring for them. We allow murderers to spend the rest of their lives in jail on the dimes of those they terrorized, instead of executing them, we have devalued the lives of their victims and caused far more murders to occur in the process.
A book could be written about the trusting in everything and everyone but God. Suffice it to say that our nation is becoming more and more wicked every day and will eventually be taken over by those who want to destroy us.
Guess what? We are coddling too, the very people who will take this nation down and place us under their evil laws.
Think about it!
