As you know, the Lord has been speaking to me lately about being thankful for the afflictions, difficulties, trials, pains and sufferings of this mortal, temporal life. Also, I have been having some physical difficulties these past few weeks, which, so far, is nothing of much significance.
So, yesterday morning, as I washed the dinner dishes from the night before, I went to the Revive Our Hearts website to listen to the latest broadcast from Nancy (Leigh) DeMoss Wolgemuth. Wouldn't you know... she has started a new series called The Blessing of Thorns. I tilted my face toward heaven and said, "Ok, Lord."
This afternoon, out of the blue, I decide to hit up Wretched Radio, completely forgetting about what time Todd Friel airs his radio show, and (I kid you not!) he's in the middle of broadcasting pieces of a sermon from Steve Lawson about suffering for the glory of God.
WOW!
Do you have a broad smile forming on your face right now? I certainly did at that point this afternoon. Both of my arms raised up, dripping soapy water everywhere (again, I was doing dishes) and I ask, "Lord? What are You trying to tell me?"
Certainly, this is no coincidence.
I can't help but wonder.... Do I need to just get this concept into my head in general, or is God preparing me for something?
The Bible says that in this world we will have tribulation. This is unavoidable! The verse quoted above states that we should count it all joy when we find ourselves in various tribulations because the final product is hope. How do we gain this hope? By engaging in spiritual warfare and exercising our faith. God expects us to walk in the authority given to us by our Savior. Trials and tribulation give us an opportunity to exercise our authority, overcome the struggle and bring him glory! When I sense that the Lord has given me knowledge of struggles that are ahead, I prepare for battle! I immediately turn to prayer and fasting. Yep, I said fasting. If the spirit and flesh are at war, the flesh must be weakened so that the spirit may be empowered. Victory over the struggle is always the goal. I learned that from the life of the One I follow. Jesus always walked in victory except when the faith of the people was too weak or non existent. I'm thankful that the Lord doesn't expect me to just sit back and endure difficult times. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," II Corinthians 4 - 5.
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