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by Gail Rodgers
Having been through a hard time, Sarah confessed that her faith had wavered occasionally; she had doubted God’s love for her. But during those long days and sleepless nights she never could have imagined the growth in her character that would result! Her walk with God was changed and she had a deeper understanding of His amazing grace. She hadn’t asked for those difficult days, yet she was thankful now for the lessons that enriched her life. She realized God’s loving hand had indeed been on her life, even as she struggled.
God is at work in us
When we, as Christians, find ourselves in hard places we often wonder what God is doing. We sometimes wonder if He has forgotten us. We don’t always see His hand in the midst of pain and disappointment.
God desires to use us to accomplish His will on this earth. He made us distinctly unique to accomplish what He has planned for us (Ephesians 2:10). He desires to work in us and to equip us to do His will (Hebrews 13:20,21).
Seeking to accomplish what He has planned for us, as part of His kingdom work, is the very way we will find the deep fulfillment of our souls. It’s what He made us for. Every person and every personality has a purpose in God’s divine plan.
When we accept God’s forgiveness and accept His gift of eternal life we become His children. Sharing His love in our daily world is the primary focus God has for each of us (Matthew 28:19). He expects to have us involved in kingdom work, the family business of our Heavenly Father.
When our lives, as Christians, are unproductive for the Kingdom, God responds. He responds in love. He responds in ways that will get our attention and draw our focus to Him and to Kingdom business.
God works in us to dispel two things that most often detour Christians on their journey to becoming more like Jesus. Consider these two possibilities of how God may be at work in you…
1) He disciplines us, in love, to dispel sin in our lives (Hebrews 12:5-11).
Sin is anything that we insist on doing that disobeys God. It brings a break in our relationship with God. God did not send His Son to the agony of the cross to bear our penalty for sin without also giving us the power over sin. When He sees the power of sin overcoming us through our own choices, His Spirit goes to work.
He convicts us of what we are doing and points to the very thing that has broken our connection with our Heavenly Father. If we simply get annoyed at God and choose to remain doing what we are doing we will often find our spiritual state grows in conflict within us. We choose, at this point, to turn back to God wholeheartedly or to turn away in anguish and anger. Left unattended this break in our relationship with God will often propel us into crisis.
God waits at every interval to lovingly help us as we choose to turn to Him and restore the broken relationship. When we respond to God’s discipline our relationship with Him is restored and the business of the Kingdom comes into focus. We will find ourselves moving from little or no spiritual fruit in our lives to enjoying fruitfulness.
2 He prunes us, in love, to make us more fruitful in His Kingdom (John 15:2).
When we feel God’s pruning sheers in our lives it is because He sees fruit and desires to make us more fruitful for the Kingdom. Yet issues of “self” need to be pruned away in areas where we put ourselves and our own desires ahead of God.
Pruning will often involve our values, our talents, our relationships, our time and our money. It can even involve the sources of how we find significance. Where we have put our own priorities before God, God will bring in His pruning shears in order to shape our character.
Fruit in abundance
As our character responds to the Spirit of God, character fruit will become evident. Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility and self control will develop in increasing measure in our lives (Galatians 5:33).
As this fruit of the Spirit grows so will our involvement in the business of the Kingdom, that is, the business of making disciples. Our lives will reflect a deeper desire for His Word and a more productive prayer life will also become evident (John 15:7).
Timeless truths to cling to in hard times
God’s Word is always a sure guide in our journey through life. We don’t always understand just what is happening in our lives and in our circumstances yet we can depend on the timeless truths of the Bible to help guide us through. God will be our strength as we journey through the hard places.
- God desires to be involved in our lives. His Spirit draws us. He declares His love for us (Ephesians 3:17b & 18).
- He extends His invitation for us to come to Him and find grace and mercy to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
- He offers us rest for our weary soul (Matthew 11:28,29).
- He invites us to receive cleansing and be assured of eternal life (John 3:16).
We can depend on His love.
“I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves…” (Ephesians 3:17-19).
You can trust God’s love today!
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here's a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.
Is this the life for you?
If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you'll experience life to the fullest.
* Resource and suggested reading: Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson
Gail Rodgers has a passion for discovering and sharing how the Scriptures apply in very practical ways where we live and walk each day. She is a wife, mother of three, businesswoman and a pastor to women. She resides in Alberta, Canada with her family. Order Gail's new devotional book, Everything You Need, or visit her website at www.gailrodgers.ca.
