God's Inspiration for Searching Hearts

THE PURPOSE OF TRIALS

Why do people suffer? Why does God allow His own children, good Christians to go through trials? Is there a purpose? Have you ever asked the question – WHY? I want you to know that you are not the only one who has ever had questions concerning your trials. Just because you are suffering does not mean that God is against you or you don’t have faith or you are out of the will of God! Listen, dear child of God, you will come to these times in your testing and trials that you will say – “Why O Lord, what happened? Why are things going like they are? I thought I was called. If I’m in Gods Will, then why am I suffering? Is there a way out? Will it get better?” You will enter valleys in your Christian life that will be deep and filled with shadows. Trials have a way of blinding you of your accomplishments and the good you have done. Your past victories seem to elude you. You will also enter quiet times that seem unproductive. Inwardly you will question like all the precious saints of old – “Where are you Lord? How long? When will victory come?”

With the help of God, I would like to take you and show you that there is a purpose in your trials and that your labors, prayers and tears are not in vain.

So why does God allow us to come to these points in life? Why does He wait till we get to the brink before He delivers? You see, the Lord sometimes allows us to come to the breaking point before He steps in and brings victory. When it looks the most hopeless is when He answers. Remember: It’s always the darkest right before the dawn. The harder the battle – the greater the victory. It may be dark now where you are, but Gods stars shine the brightest when it is the darkest. Your weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. There are no rainbows without clouds and rain. You would never know the true and highest joy without first experiencing the deepest sorrow. You would never feel true happiness unless your heart has been broken. You can’t know how it feels to be satisfied and content unless you’ve been empty and down to nothing. You can’t know sweetness until you’ve tasted bitterness. There will never be victory without battle. The crushing of the olive in the oil press brings forth the purest oil. There is no anointing without a pressing. The hard ground could never bring forth a harvest unless it is broken and tilled. There would be no bread for the hungry unless the grain passes through the grinding wheels. It is true our glory comes out of pains. You can’t really relate to others until you’ve been where they are!

WE ARE BROUGHT INTO TIGHT PLACES

How many of you have ever faced problems and situations in your life that you felt like you were hemmed in? Spiritually speaking, your troubles and trials have forced you to stand with your back against the wall with barely any room to move. In your place of confinement you feel bound and unable to get out of your present dilemma. We come to these narrow straits in life where we face the enemy at every angle. Be thankful when you are pressed into a tight corner because it is there you will see the Glory of God and find His marvelous Grace. It is then you will find that no matter how tight the place you are in, it still has room for one more and that one is Jesus! You may be saying – it is narrow where I’m at, but remember, its very tightness brings you and Jesus closer than ever. Only at this closest touch will you find out what a wonderful Saviour you have. He’s a friend that sticketh closer than a brother!

You might say – but I didn’t ask for this trial. I don’t want to be here! But if we had no tests, no trials and no hard experiences, then we would never know what a great deliverer and guide we have. You will pass through places in life where it will be just you. No one else will understand, not even your companion or closest friend. There will be no evading or escaping these trying experiences that will cause you to question. Doing Gods will is not always easy. The way may be narrow and dark that you will be called to go through and difficult to understand. In the midst of your trial, you will make a decision – shall I keep trusting and obeying God and come out on the other side made better with something good to show? Or do I give up and let my trial make me bitter? Some of you might be in that place right now questioning why Lord, I don’t understand? But always remember, the harder the place of battle, the more God loves to show His power. If you hold on and keep believing and be faithful to His dear cause, He will come through and make Himself real to you in ways you never dreamed. God can’t really work in a great way till you get in a hard place. Our God loves the hard places! Our God is a deliverer. He specializes in deliverance right when it looks hopeless. Do you ever wonder why things get so bad and He waits so long before He moves? It’s because God will use you to show others there is Hope and help for them. People who are hurting and suffering will see in you their hope. You are His pattern and picture of Grace. They will say – “If God can do that for them, He can do it for me. Just look how they’ve come through it! God is real!”