When a trial … especially a long-term trial … comes upon us, we can be TEMPTED to question, “Why has this trial come upon me? Why is God allowing this?” or even, “Why is God doing this to me“. And for Faith people we can be tempted to question, “Why is God not answering my prayers as I take my stand in faith?“
The key word used above is TEMPTED. We will be TEMPTED to make all sorts of accusations against God. We will be TEMPTED to blame and question God. We may even be TEMPTED to forsake God and His promises.
This is a trick of the devil: “Curse GOD and die” or how about blame God and die or forsake God and die.
The temptation will always be the same for everybody. When we are sick for any length of time, the temptation will be to state or think or question, “Why ISN’T God healing me?“ But the Bible states God HAS healed ALL of our diseases (1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 5:18). When poverty or lack seems to have a strangle-hold on us, the temptation is to state or think, “Giving doesn’t work. God is NOT providing for me as the Bible states” or even “It IS vanity/useless to serve God/strive after God/give the way the Bible and/or preachers state“, when in fact the Bible does state, “yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” or “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously“.
Remember, it is the BIBLE that makes these statements. Preachers are only voicing what GOD has stated/had written for us and these Words must be Truth for God and His Word are One … even if it doesn’t seem like it, for a very long time in your life.
IF you can be FAITHFUL to God and wait the testing period out … faithful to keep believing and obey the written Word, faithful to keep giving and keep forgiving, faithful to keep pursuing holiness and seeking the Lord with all your soul and strength, etc … then you WILL see the faithfulness of the Lord in your life. Your faithfulness to God’s Word will reap God’s faithfulness to His Word and to you.
Satan is bent on making God’s children blame God for trouble that God never intended to come to us, that God never put on us, or that God ever desired for us and Satan is bent on killing us, destroying our lives, or at the least, ripping our faith from us.
So we in turn must make a strong determination to stand against these plots of satan and STAND FAITHFUL in our good fight.
Stay faithful in believing God, knowing that God IS faithful to His Word and to those who will hold firmly to His Word.
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…that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes
2 Corinthians 2:11
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour
1 Peter 5:8
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1, NIV
faithfulness:
steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant
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(C) 2012 LeeAnn Bell, Faith Speaks Inc
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Thankyou again for the needed reminder Lee Ann. It’s amazing how quickly we can be removed from our bearings as life goes along and we forget the very basics of His Word. No wonder we are admonished to not forsake the assembly of ourselves together to encourage one another and so much the more as we see the day approaaching. Prsesently I am praying for a daughter of a person whose M.S. has bedridden her to the point that all that is left is tubes \ and a blank stare through her eyes. As far as I know salvation has not come to this household. If anyone feels to pray for her healing and salvation to this home do as you are led. I am presently questioning why God hasn’t answered yet. Big mistake |I guess but |I am in the kindergarten stage in all this so I guess I can expect some surprises, Oops this is too long. Sorry. J
Well, Jack, I’ve seen some sad situations not turn out as I prayed for when it comes to other’s households as well. Why? Because we don’t have the same authority in the spirit realm over other people as we do over our own family members. God has given us specific Promises for our children and grandchildren, and our spouses are “one flesh” with us, so we have God’s Word that He will do specific things for our family members as we stand in faith believing His Promises.
But when it comes to other people outside our households, we can do our very best to fast and intercede for them, while speaking Truth to them, laying hands on them while praying for them, but it will ultimately be up to them to pick up God’s Word and believe it for themselves.
If others just can’t seem to grasp God’s Truths for themselves, I simply keep them in prayer, praying the Ephesians 1 and 2 prayers for them.
We are all growing in our understanding of spiritual matters…we’re all in this together Jack