Sanctification

When you undergo trials, how do you look at the experience? If you think of the trial in a spiritual context, do you wonder if you have done something for which you are being punished? Do you wonder if the Holy Spirit is in the process of strengthening your faith? Do you think God must be busy dealing with someone who has a greater need?

What if God is simply trying to help you understand? What if it has nothing to do with you? What if God is simply answering our prayer that we might learn how to be more compassionate?

Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings.

(1 Peter 4:13)

Hebrews 4:15 tell us  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.
That is a tremendous comfort. It is not always a moral thing. Sometimes our Lord is simply teaching us something about compassion. He might be preparing us for an opportunity to minister to someone else.

He has allowed us to follow a difficult journey so that we can understand someone else’s journey later in life. I know that seems, at times, a harsh sentence, us going through difficulties so we can understand someone else’s difficulties. I have learned to look at it as a training ground. Our life is like that. Things do not happen in a vacuum. Whatever happens in our life, god intends for us to use it for his glory. Knowing this, look at life differently, your Lord giving you all the tools you need, not just for your own life journey but to share in the journeys of others as well.

Pastor Craig