[Pixabay free images]

INTRODUCTION:

Today is the third day of this series Patiently Endure. We will continue today to explore the issue of endurance. Of cause, endurance is not is, that is why we talk about "patience". One can not endure without enough patience. Even in "Hive and Thread", endurance is necessary. Take for instance, you join the "Hive and Thread", just as "dust", nobody knows you. There is a level of endurance you must exercise patiently before you will be noticed. Please patiently read this post to the end as to gather some knowledge.

TODAY'S TOPIC:

WHY DOES GOD TEST AND TRY US?

BIBLE TEXTS: 1 PETER 1:7; 4:12; 2 Corinthians 8:2.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
(1 Peter 1:7).

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you (1 Peter 4:12).

How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality (2 Corinthians 8:2).

CONTROLLING THOUGHT:

If our trials and tests sources from God, they are for reasons. The reasons must be for our own best interest.

THE MESSAGE:

PRESSURE PRODUCES ENLARGEMENT:

Thou hast enlarged me when I was under pressure (Psalm 4:1 RSV).
This Psalm was written by David after the greatest failure of his life — his murderous, adulterous affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11).
Because of his sin, the Lord sent severe judgments on David. One of these was
administered at the hands of his son Absalom, who usurped the throne and drove David into exile. Having to flee for his life and suffer horrible indignities brought "enlargement" to David.
Even though his problems were of his own making, God graciously used these judgment times to make David a better man for the tasks yet ahead.

If we acknowledge our failures and repent (renounce and turn from our sins), God graciously uses the chastisements and sufferings which follow to make us better leaders.

TRIALS PROVE AND HUMBLE US:

God wants to discover whether we serve Him because we love Him or whether we serve Him for all the blessings He gives us.
Jesus discovered that some
followed Him "for the loaves and fishes" (that is, for what they could get from Him, not because they loved Him).
Moses described God's actions in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt: “Who led them through that great and terrible wilderness, where there were fiery serpents, and scorpions and drought, where there were no water, who brought you water out of the rock of flint; who fed thee in the wilderness with mana
which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might test thee, to do thee good at thy later end" (Deuteronomy 8:15-16).

Why did God allow such severe test and trials? “To do thee good at thy later end"

When God plans to enlarge and
bless a minister or a church. He first takes them down into depths of discouragement
into the quagmire of hopeless situations. He does it "... so you would never feel it was your own power and might that made you wealthy [great]"
(Deut 8:17).
When God gives enlargement, Pride often comes in and we think that it is our own cleverness or gifts that we are enjoying such blessings. Because of God's mercy to save us from pride. He allows every hard times prior to great enlargement and blessings.

This happens in Job's life. The devil told God "Job only serves You because You have blessed him with so many things. Take them away and Job will curse You." God responded to Satan's challenge by giving Satan permission to take all Job had.

When Satan had killed Job's flocks, herds and children and had destroyed all his properties, how did Job respond ? "Job fell down upon the ground and worshipped"
(Job 1:20). Job proved that Satan's accusations were wrong and his love for God was genuine. He still worship God when his animals, house, his children and wealth were
taken away. Job said, "though He slays me, I will trust Him" (Job 13:15).

In the end God gave back to Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).
Job became recipient of a double portion because he proved himself God's loyal friend even in severe times of test and trial.
"For example of patience in suffering, look at the Lord's prophets ... Job is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow; from his experiences we can see how the Lord's plan finally ended in good for He is full of tenderness and mercy (James 5:10-11 TLB).

SUFFERING CAN INCREASE GOD'S POWER IN US:

If you ask for God's power in your life, you must understand what is required to have it. David said, “He weakened my
strength in the way" (Psalm 102:23). When you ask for God's power He responds, “Do you really mean it? If you are willing to be reduced to weakness (total dependence on the Lord), and take the suffering, tests and trials that go with it, I'll give you My power.”

a. Paul's Experience:

I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great God is to use such weakness for His glory.
The experiences I had [of being taken up to Heaven] were so tremendous, God was afraid I might be puffed up [full] of pride] by them; so I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to hurt and bother me, and prick my pride. "Three times I begged God to take it away. Each time He said,‘ No! My grace [enablement] is adequate for you. My power [strength] shows up best in weak people. "... Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite happy about the thorn, and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then, I am strong — the less I have, the more I depend on him” (2 Corinth 12:5,7-10 TLB).

Paul teaches us several important lessons about tests and trials in the life of a leader. Among them are:

1) Beware Of Pride:

Valid spiritual experiences during times of prayer can cause us to be prideful.

2) Depend On God:

Our discomfort is less important to God than our character. If our pride needs to be pricked, God will send along a messenger of Satan to make us weak, so we will depend on Him.

3) Rejoice In Trials:

Only through humility and weakness can ( God's power) be manifested in our lives.
Hence, we can rejoice in tribulation, hardships and persecution, because we know it can result in God's power and glory being revealed in us.

When we start seeking for the power, the glory and the life of the Spirit to be expressed through us, God's response to our petition does not come in the way we expect.

We pray for patience, and He sends tribulation. Why? Because tribulation develops patience” (Romans 5:3).

He is answering our prayer, but not the way we thought He would. We must recognize that the buffeting may be “God... working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

4. Affliction Separates The

Chosen From The Called:

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isa 48:10).

In this verse, the word "chosen" is used in the sense of being “graded,” as in a school course examination or test. When we do our lessons and take our tests in school, we are “graded” by the teacher on how well we have performed. If we receive a passing grade, we graduate to the next level or grade, one that is more difficult and challenging.

How does God determine whether to give me a passing grade? He tests my performance in the furnace of affliction. My response to trials and frustrations is graded. God observes how I react to heavy pressure and difficult situations. If I respond appropriately He says, “Well done, My good and faithful servant. Now you are ready to pass on to the next course, the next level of difficulty."

I do not mean to suggest that working for the Lord is constant tribulation and work without rest, respite or reward. Through God's grace, great blessings come to those who give their lives for His service.

But, as we learn and grow. He presents us with ever harder tasks and continues to test, to grade, to choose.
Many are called but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16). Why are few chosen? Because we are graded in the furnace of affliction, and few of us pass the test for leadership.

There is a powerful statement in the Book of Revelation concerning those the Lord Jesus allows to go forth in conquest with Him. "These shall make war with the Lord of lords and the King of kings and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful" (Rev 17:14).

Three requirements were essential: You had first to be called, then CHOSEN, and to have proved yourself faithful. Sufferings, trials and tribulations mark the path of those in this company. They've proven themselves worthy to be CHOSEN and have stood faithful to the Lord, even
if it meant hazarding their lives for Him.

5. Suffering Teaches Obedience:

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb 5:8).

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth;
...if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons" (Hebrews 12:6,8).

For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power, and you won't be spending the rest of your life chasing after evil desires, but will be anxious to do the will of God".

That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:1-2,15,19).

I often wish that there were a way to gain without pain; a way to learn without suffering and chastisement but there
is not.
We would prefer to enjoy an effective ministry without the suffering which makes it possible. If God used painful suffering to perfect Jesus, how much more will He use trouble in our lives?
Let us then joyfully embrace the Lord's discipline. For by this we know we are sons and not bastards.

[Note: Paul is applying this in a spiritual sense. Under the law, bastards had no right to priestly or kingly ministry (Deut 23:2). New Testament rules of grace decree children born out of wedlock are treated the same as anyone else.]

6.Trials Produce Perseverance And Maturity:

... count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:2-4).

Many leaders seem to become "escape artists" when obedience to God's will requires suffering or trials. James teaches us that rather than try to escape the fiery ordeals that come, we should joyfully embrace them.

Notice, "…perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature." This means we cannot speed up the process. Fiery ordeals do not produce instant results. When a fiery trial comes we must not only embrace it, we must endure and persevere in it.

a.The Cocoon And The Butterfly.

A man once found a cocoon which had dropped from a tree. The butterfly was beginning to emerge, so he stopped to watch. It struggled for about forty-five minutes.
In that time only the head and part of one wing emerged free of the cocoon.

Thinking he would help the struggling butterfly accelerate the process, he took his razor-sharp pen knife and cut the cocoon open to release the emerging larvae. To his surprise, he found only the part which had emerged through great effort and struggle was developed. The part he had cut free was still undeveloped and not ready to be exposed to the elements outside the cocoon.

Instead of helping the larvae become a butterfly, he had aborted the process. The
half-developed butterfly soon died.
We church leaders are guilty of the same thing. We see brethren wrestling with difficulty. We feel sorry for them and try to help them out, only to discover that they fallback into the same problem again a short while later. Were we to let them suffer awhile, and learn the lesson God is trying to teach them — it would be better for them and the Church.

b.Three Causes Of Trials.

Any ill- timed or misdirected effort made in such circumstances will bring about a miscarriage of God's dealings. When people come crying to us in the midst of an ordeal, let us pray for great wisdom to discern whether this is:

dealings of God,
self-induced trouble they have brought on themselves, or
attacks of Satan not within
God's will.

c. Response To Trials

If It Is God's Dealings:
Submit.
If it is God's dealings, help them to "Submit [themselves] to God" (James 4:7) and
draw on His grace to go through the trial victoriously.
If It Is Self-Induced:Learn. If it is S.I.T. (Self-Induced Trouble), try to help them learn from the problems they've brought on themselves.
If It Is An Attack Of Satan: Fight. If it is satanic attack beyond God's will, then go to battle for them and resist
the devil. "He will flee from you" (James 4:7).

TROUBLE TESTS OUR FAITH IN GOD'S WORD:

Every Word of God is pure [purified] words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times (Psalm 12:6).

Compare these verses with Psalm 105:19, “Until the time that his [Joseph's] word came, the word of the Lord tried him".
Joseph spent somewhere between ten and twelve years in an Egyptian prison for refusing Potiphar's wife the adulterous relationship she sought. She falsely accused him of trying to rape her. For this, Joseph spent many years suffering for righteousness' sake.
God had promised to make him a ruler. What do you think ten or twelve years in prison would do to a leader who had a promise like that?
I know what it would do to me. It would frustrate and distress me beyond belief. Yet, God allowed Joseph's situation. Why? So the word of the Lord to him could be “tested like silver, tried in a furnace…purified seven times” (Ps 12:6).
Every great man of God endured a fiery trial as a result of hearing instructions from God. The process of trying to implement what God said became very costly for them.

a. Noah was told to build an ark. It resulted in the people scoffing and mocking him. Only his family and some of the animals were saved.

b. Abram was promised, "..thou shall be a father of many nations and given the name of Abraham which means ‘EXALTED FATHER" (Gen.17:4,5).

Can you imagine how the neighbors must have laughed at Abraham?
“How many children do you have, 'exalted father'?"
They would ask in derision. Abraham would have to drop his head in silence.He had none. "We hear you think you are going to be the father of many nations, exalted father."

LEADERS TO....
"You are ninety-nine years old. When is it going to happen?" They would chide. Abraham had no answer. He was bearing the reproaches that fall on everyone that has a “word from the Lord.” Believe me!Every word of God is tried
(tested).

c. Moses knew he was to deliver his people from Egypt's slavery.

When he tried, even his own Israeli brothers turned on him and he was driven into the desert for forty years. What do you think went through Moses' mind all those years? I wonder if thoughts like this didn't torture his meditations. “God, in an attempt to obey You, I gave up the claim to Pharaoh's throne. I could, at the least, have been prime minister of Egypt. But instead, I tried following Your call — and now as a vagabond and outlaw I am wandering in this desert, tending a few of my father-in-law's sheep. God!What are You doing to me?”
Can you imagine what forty years of embracing a vision, that to all appearances would never be fulfilled, would do to the man?
We know his self-confidence had been so shattered, he stammered and stuttered when he talked. He had to have his brother Aaron do his talking for him.This could only have been the result of intense inward emotional conflict and agony.

Had we time and space, we could look at David, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Paul and many others. All of them had “the word of the Lord” given them. Then their faith in that word was put to severe tests by adversity, misunderstanding and great trials of affliction.
There is no other path to leadership, my friend. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12).

Paul said, 'It is because I have preached these great truths that I am in trouble here and have been put in jail like a criminal.

But if we give up when we suffer, and turn against Christ, then He must turn against us. Even when we are too weak to
have any faith left, He remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will
always carry out His promises to us” (2 Tim. 2:9-13 TLB).

PRAYER:

Oh Lord, grant me the grace that will help me. Help me to learn whatever lesson you want me to learn no matter my complains. I need you every hour in my life. Please grant me your presence in Jesus Christ's name I pray - Amen.

CONCLUSION:

Thanks for your time in reading this post. Please shall we interact in the comment section. See you! I love you!