You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling
~Psalm 91:5-10
No grave trouble will overtake the righteous,
But the wicked shall be filled with evil.
But the wicked shall be filled with evil.
~Proverbs 12:21
Whoever observes the [king’s] command will experience no harm...
~Ecclesiastes 8:5a, Amplified
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
~Isaiah 54:17
Behold! I have given you authority and
power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental
strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and
nothing shall in any way harm you.
~Luke 10:19, Amplified
[But] he who commits sin
[who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the
evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the
beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to
undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve)
the works the devil [has done].
~1John 3:8, Amplified
With this much Biblical evidence telling us that it is God's will for us to be free from harm, why is it that we still go through so much turmoil in our lives? Obviously, it cannot be a result of anything that the Lord has concocted, or else the totality of Scripture would be rendered a lie. Clearly there are other factors involved. Why are Christian people suffering with poverty, sickness, depression, addictions and whatever else the enemy can contrive? There are many factors, none of them being God, Himself. Though, as we saw last week, He may allow a trial for a short season, He does not allow more than we can handle. And nothing should by any means harm any of us. So, what is causing Christians hard times?
1) Life. We shouldn't be surprised at tests and trials in our life, because of the brokenness of the world around us. Jesus told us we would experience these times in this life, but He never sad we should be suffering as a result of them. He said, "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and
frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain,
undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power
to harm you and have conquered it for you.]" John 16:33, Amplified.
Here we see that promise of no harm once again. Harm is not a part of the plans and purposes of God for His people. That runs completely contrary to religious teaching, but that is what the Bible clearly tells us. Jesus is not out to harm us, but "life" is. Due to the fallen nature of this world and its mode of operation, we can expect to encounter times of difficulty. That is why it is essential that we stay "in Christ." The promises listen above in Psalm 91 are all a result of remaining in the shadow of the presence of God at all times.
Jesus has deprived these seasons of the power to harm us. If we are suffering harm, something is wrong.
2.) The Word. Being a disciple of the Lord Jesus puts one in direct opposition to this world and its system. Jesus told us that the world would hate us as a result of following Him. we can expect trials and persecution for being the people of God. Obviously, God is not going to persecute His own people, so we know that this form of human trial or tribulation is not from Him, either.
However, Jesus not only informs us that this form of persecution is possible, He prays over each and everyone of us, that we would be more than able to overcome (and even be rescued from) these trials: "I have given and
delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them,
because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I
am not of the world. I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world." (John 17:14-16, Amplified). Again we see Jesus praying that we be kept from harm.
But that protection is only possible when we stay in position to walk in it. Which leads us to...
But that protection is only possible when we stay in position to walk in it. Which leads us to...
3.) Our Choices. Our actions have consequences. As has been stated, the sovereignty of God does not mean that He can force us to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. Not every moment of our lives is a moment designed by God. He is not the Universal "Puppet Master" stringing our lives along against our wills. He will not violate our free will. If God had the ability to make us do whatever He wanted, the entire human race would already be redeemed and in Heaven by now (1Timothy 2:24). It is our actions and our choices that can result in our inability to walk in the full redemption and protection that is ours by right as children of God. Proverbs 26:2 says, "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." (KJV). This means that no curse is a result of coincidence or accident. Jesus came to redeem us from the curse (Galatians 3:14), so the cause cannot be Him. The cause must lie on our end.
This is not meant to be a moment of fear or condemnation. It is simply meant to cause us to take a moment and evaluate ourselves. What is opening a door from Satan in each of our lives?
Scripture tells us that fear is a major contributing factor. The story of Job shows us that. Unlike most religious teaching, it was Job's fear that opened a hole in barrier of protection that God had placed around him (Job 3:25). Fear is the opposite of faith; and James 1:8 tells us that when we operate in fear and doubt, we are no longer able to receive anything from the Lord - including protection from harm.
Relying on ourselves and our own devices can be detrimental to us. Proverbs 14:12 says that there are ways that seem right to us, but that they result in death. Simply relying on ourselves can kill us. Our healthcare, financial strategies, education, etc., are all well and good, if accompanied by Godly wisdom. The Scripture tells us that God's ways cannot be discerned and understood by our own human understanding (1Corinthians 2:14-16). God has given us His Word to tell us how to live - and there is a good chance some of it will come across as insane (Abraham, anyone?).
Offense is deadly. 1John 2:10 says that when we walk in unconditional love - the love that has already been placed in us by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:29) - then there is no cause for us to stumble. However, when we walk in offense, always holding grudges, being easily hurt and upset by people, we walk straight into Satan's playground. He has been doing a job on the Church for centuries. We gripe and fight all the time. Most people will tell you that Church people are the worst people they have ever known. Our desire to live Godly has caused us to be easily affronted by people who do not "fit the mold."
We are too easily offended, and it is playing right into the enemies hands, because...
We are too easily offended, and it is playing right into the enemies hands, because...
4.) Satan's still shooting! This fight is not over. Though victory is already ours, our adversary will never quit. And he fights dirty. He is the author of sickness, disease, poverty, depression, division, and every other human tragedy imaginable. And he is not on God's payroll...
We are taught to fight the fight of faith (1Timothy 6:12) using the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). Settle this in your mind now: Satan will never stop shooting at you. Hard times are not God trying to teach a lesson. He has His Word to do that. If all these trials and tribulations were from God, why would He teach us to fight Him? He is not the Author of the trials in our life; He is the provider of the weaponry necessary to conquer the trials in our life. His Word is our weapon (Hebrews 4:12). We are to stand (daily), declaring and believing His Word, and then we will be safe.
James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee. When? Whenever he gets tired. We must learn to outlast the enemy with our confessions of faith. That is how we overcome. We must never quit using the Word and our faith in resisting the trials and tribulations in our lives. We should never accept anything but what the Bible promises us. The Scripture never promises us that God will harm us. It never tells us that He is manipulating our circumstances to be difficult in order to teach us a lesson. These are lies.
_________________________
Understand, this is not an exhaustive, end-all list of causes for tough times (I didn't address many aspects of sin, or the stupidity of other people). However, it is solid starting point for us to begin changing the way we think about all of the tests and trials of the Christian life. We need to adjust our way of thinking about hard times. God isn't behind our sufferings. The Scripture tells us to "test the spirits," to see if what we hear is from God. I have heard too many testimonies from people about God that do not line-up with His Word. Scripture tells us that trials may come as a result of our love for Jesus. Trials come, because we are moving forward in our life with God and Satan is out to stop us. People are jerks sometimes. Trials come to refine our faith - meaning we should use it to overcome, not simply lay down and say "God is good." Fight back. And win.
P.S. Happy birthday, mom! :-D
Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
~Romans 8:37
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