Before we get started... I AM DONE WITH DIVINITY SCHOOL!!!!!!! Okay, I had to get that out of my system. But it is actually a pretty good segue for what I am talking about today. In the midst of wrapping up my divinity school career and in light of the easter season, I have been thinking a lot about the trials that we go through... and no. I am not trying to liken myself to Jesus, no worries =)
This final semester in school has been horribly tough for me. Between getting sick, injured, my computer crashing, my car breaking, identity theft, and trying to do two jobs, ministry, and three classes, I about crashed a few times. Especially last week when my thesis was due. I could have done my job, ministry and school no problem, but everything else seemed to come out of no where and it happened in a freakishly weird fashion.
This makes me wonder: What is it that causes trials in our lives? Is it God testing us? Is it Satan testing us? Is it a natural course of events? Is it a result of our own sin? Is it all of the above? It is difficult to answer.
So when I look at the life of Jesus, he HAD to die for us. Yes, he willingly took it upon himself, but as he prayed in Matthew 26:39 in the garden of Gethsemane it was obvious that he did not like the idea. I also think of how his disciples (with exception to John) were executed for their faith. It was not like they were doing anything truly heinous, they were helping the hurting, healing the sick, casting out demons, etc. So why did they face trials if they were righteous? The truth is, that often times it is doing God's will that draws the wrath of Hell.
A professor shared with our class a few weeks ago that often times you can tell the magnitude of an event by the amount of spiritual warfare involved with the circumstance. I am paraphrasing what she said, but it gets the point across. In my life, I have had a significant amount of spiritual warfare lately. The reason why I received it is because I was doing what was right. I realized these past few years it has been the same way. When I became a chaplain candidate, it took 13 months when it should have been a two month process... and yes, I received a lot of negativity for my pursuit.
I also had to think back to Easter eight years ago. It was probably the darkest year of my life. I had a lot of things go wrong (enough to overwhelm a normal human) and I about gave up on my faith. The next year, everything crystalized for me and I found my calling. So what I realized was that Satan was trying to come against me and destroy me before I could reach my potential.
So this is what I want to leave you with this week, when you receive trials that seem out of the ordinary, know that someone is trying to stop you. Someone who fears what you may become. And never forget Psalm 91.
IN RESPONSE TO: What is it that causes trials in our lives? Is it God testing us? Is it Satan testing us? Is it a natural course of events? Is it a result of our own sin? Is it all of the above? It is difficult to answer.
ReplyDelete-I am studying 1 Samuel with a group of women. In 1 Samuel 16, David is anointed king. David, the man after God's own heart, son of Jesse (Jesse means "man"), so David, the son of man, forshadows Christ, revealing the unknown of Christ (Beth Moore quote). In regards to your questions, in 1 Samuel 16:13 and 14 it indicates that the Spirit of the Lord came upon David(13) and verse 14 indicates that "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul AND a distressing spirit FROM THE LORD troubled him". Looking in Matthew 3:16 and 4:1, this also happens with Jesus. Matthew 3:16 "and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon Him" 4:1, "Jesus was led up BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Wow. This is just one indication that the Spirit of God does have an influence on the trials we are experiencing. He's not putting us through the fire because He wants to punish us, instead it's to refine us. We will come out on the other side as gold, refined through the fire.