When I was a baby Christian, I attended home Prayer Meetings before I got involved with a church. I remember sitting there one night listening to a woman tell us about the "tests" the Lord was putting her through. It was some pretty heavy stuff. I kept thinking that I sure hoped the Lord didn't test me like that any way soon! I was so young. I was riding high on the newness of being His Child and wanted the good feelings to last forever. I hadn't grown.Many years later, I heard a minister say "Trials don't come to test your faith. Trials come to EDUCATE your faith!" He said that God doesn't need to test us. He already knows the outcome! He's the Almighty. It's US who need to see how we'll handle the bumps along the way in our walk with Jesus. This bore witness in my spirit. I could look back and see crossroads in our lives - some serious, some not-so-serious - but the outcome could have been so different.
It would have been so much easier to call a local church and ask for food and rent money. It would have been so much easier to call the parents and ask them to let us move in for a while. It would have been so much easier to take the first hamburger-slinging job that came along just to have food on the table. But would I have grown?
Would I have ever seen that mountain and the deep chasm before me and heard His voice saying "Will you mount up with wings as eagles or will you go ALL THE WAY DOWN and come ALL THE WAY back up the other side and miss what I have for you?"
You may have read elsewhere at By His Side of the night when it seemed that things had deteriorated beyond hope. The Lord's quiet voice broke through my worry and anxiety and He began to tell me what was really happening. The devil had launched an all-out frontal attack designed to, once and for all, destroy my faith and trust in the Savior. I got madder than I've ever been. Without a second thought, I kicked the devil in the rear and took authority - HIS power and authority - over the attack. I told it to "Go ahead. Do your worst! Take my kids. Toss me out in the streets. Take away this man I love more than life. Take your best shot! But you will NEVER, EVER take my Jesus away from me!"
I grew.
And there's no tribute to me in that. It was His love and faithfulness that turned the whole situation around.
I made a decision. And that decision was that nothing on this earth was worth facing life without Him. I guess you could say I surrendered all. Not that I don't take it back daily! I stumble and get so beat up sometimes it's not funny! But I can look back on that time in my life and see where I made the decision to stick up for myself as a Child of the King and the result was VICTORY. My faith was "educated" that night. And it gives me the momentum to continue to stick up for myself.
As I visit the Prayer Boards on the net, I see so many who are hurting, alone, fearful, wanting, in pain, and at the end of their rope. They're at a crossroads in their walk. My heart hurts for them because I know what they're feeling. But my spirit rejoices because I know they're about to be "educated" and there's nothing greater in the Christian's walk with the Lord.
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and crafty cunningness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Paul was telling us to GROW! He was telling us to stand fast in the Word of the Lord and not be moved by anything or anyone else.Ephesians 4:14
Grow brothers and sisters! Take a stand against the enemy of your souls that seeks to destroy you. Use His power and authority to kick the devil out of your circumstances! Claim His promises and His strength. Take hold of what is rightfully yours through Jesus. Refuse to see and hear what the world and the devil say about your circumstances. See only what the Word of God says about them! Don't allow the enemy - who LOST the war - influence your believing. Listen to the Lamb of God who sat down at His Father's right hand, completing His mighty work of Redemption. Don't continue to be saved and bound. Be saved and SET FREE! Praise Him constantly for the solutions. As Jehosephat did when he was told that the whole city was surrounded by the enemy and they would all surely die the next morning, SEND OUT THE CHOIR to praise the King of Kings and watch Him work His mighty miracles on your behalf. Grow! Be educated! Embrace the trials and know that He is guiding you toward His Victory!
Thank you Laura for so many lovely graphics.
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Your site is truly missed!