Did God Forget My Personal Force Field?
Sometimes I sit and wonder if my standard issue personal force field, that comes with salvation, needs to be sent back up for repair. Or worse yet, the angels neglected to give me one. How is your personal force field working? Does it need a tune up?
Of course, there is no standard issue personal force field that comes with salvation. I will admit when I first found Christ, I truly believed that somehow trials would cease to exist. As I matured I realized that quite simply life goes on as usual. The sun still goes up and comes down, my bills are still delivered, illness still occurs, and my car still gets a flat, even in the face of my secure eternal soul. What is not the “usual” is my heart, my joy, and my security in Christ. My surroundings may still be of old but my mind is renewed.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
An obstacle for many Christians is the concept of suffering after accepting Christ. This is not confined to the newly saved but often occurs in even the most mature Christian. Intellectually, we know that we will not be without trials in our lives. However, when the most heartbreaking of trials knocks on a Christian’s door feelings of disappointment or anger toward God are common. We wonder how a loving God who promises blessings and joy can allow such heartbreak to enter our lives. Trials do not mean that God loves us less nor that we should loose joy in the hope that is Christ. Suffering is not only unavoidable in this sinful world but to be expected.
Beloved, do not be surprised as the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. 1Peter 4:12
Be encouraged that God did provide a personal force field…the blood of Christ. This force field allows trials to shape you and bring glory to God’s name and mercifully never allows anything you cannot handle.
I am reminded of a song by Natalie Grant called Held.
Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens
to us who have died to live,
it’s unfair.Chorus:
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
and you survive.
This is what it is to be loved,
and to know that the promise was
when everything fell we’d be held.This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred know our sorrows.
The wise hands opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow.
Allow the Lord to hold you during trials instead of expending energy being angry or disappointed. God has not forgotten His promises to you and He will not abandon you but show you His love more vividly during trying times.
Copyright © Richele McFarlin, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved
Just what I needed today. I have been feeling overwhelmed lately about several things and this hit the spot to turn my day and attitude around. Why is it so easy to let Satan discourage us and get us down and out. Thanks so much.
While I have gone through many times of intense suffering in the past year, it seems that right now my friends our facing extremely difficult circumstances. God has been able to use the suffering I endured to help me minister to these women. Truly “. . . all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Suffering allows us to become more Christlike–every bit of suffering we face here on Earth gives us a glimpse of the suffering Christ endured on the cross.
Still, to encourage those who are currently in the midst of suffering, I want to post the lyrics of the song that comforted me after two miscarriages and the death of my grandmother last year. The song, by Jeremy Camp, is called “There Will Be a Day.” Here are the lyrics:
I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that trys to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew
But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always
I know the journey seems so long
You feel your walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone
Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting
I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing….
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face
There will be a day, He’ll wipe away the stains, He’ll wipe away the tears, He’ll wipe away the tears…..there will be a day.
You are so right when you say we sometimes think all suffering will end when we recieve Christ. If it did, we would miss out on much joy. It is in the trials and tribulations we encounter in life we develop a consciousness of God’s presence and the sure confidence of His faithfulness to His promises in our lives. It is also in the trails we grow in our spiritual selves and learn to use our faith to move mountains.God wants us to grow up and become the spiritual giants He knows we can be.