It is because God is leading you that all these trials, obstacles and temptations consistently taunt you.
Let me explain why I believe so...
Paul was gaining fame and having many visions and revelations from the Lord. But he had a problem. Paul had poor eyesight. This made his ministry a bit difficult. Paul thought that by earnest prayer the difficulty might be removed. But the Lord had his own purpose for not allowing this difficulty to be removed.
Paul relates to us why he believed that God had a purpose:
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Here Paul was doing good, preaching the Gospel, fulfilling God’s mission for His life. Many were probably thinking, why doesn’t God just bless His humble servant with good eyesight? Paul was tempted to think the same way as well.
Many may look at our walk with the Lord and ask, “If God is truly with you, then why are you constantly being taunted at, ridiculed and tempted of Satan?” or the famous question: “If God is love, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?” We may have been asking these questions to ourselves as well.
But from Paul’s experience and his confession of faith in God, our eyes are opened to the fact that God doesn’t simply take away a trial, instead, He wants to help us walk through the fire (the trial). The reason for this is so that God can show us how weak we are and how strong He is.
Why would he want to do this?
God wants us to learn to lean on Him more and less upon ourselves. Paul prayed three times for God to take the problem away, yet it was this same problem that caused him to approach God’s throne even more. And that is what God is getting at here.
The more we feel our weakness, the more we will desire help – and, as Christians, our strength is found in God and His Word. The more that temptation comes, the more you are driven to your knees and into a deeper study of His Word to seek comfort… And this is how God strengthens us. This is how He strengthens our faith in Him.
God chooses the discipline of the trial to drive us to have a closer walk with Him.
I know that someone is going through something really trying today. You have followed in the Lord’s precepts, you have listened to His calling in your life, you are striving towards righteousness, and yet it feels as though those trials, temptations, and difficulties, simply won’t go away. My encouragement to you would be to have faith in God – there is a lesson He would like for you to learn, there is a purpose for your struggle. And in order to know that purpose, you have got to stick with Him through the storm. You have got to trust Him with your life more than ever before. And you have got to keep persevering in prayer.
His promise for us is that “My grace is sufficient for you: for my power is made perfect in your weakness.”
When we then have victory over that temptation, we then testify to the universe that God is able to keep us from falling and His Word is true and His love is constant and His grace is surely sufficient for all who choose Him. Thus, we glorify God.
Will you allow God to use your difficulties to glorify Him today?
Here Paul was doing good, preaching the Gospel, fulfilling God’s mission for His life. Many were probably thinking, why doesn’t God just bless His humble servant with good eyesight? Paul was tempted to think the same way as well.
Many may look at our walk with the Lord and ask, “If God is truly with you, then why are you constantly being taunted at, ridiculed and tempted of Satan?” or the famous question: “If God is love, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?” We may have been asking these questions to ourselves as well.
But from Paul’s experience and his confession of faith in God, our eyes are opened to the fact that God doesn’t simply take away a trial, instead, He wants to help us walk through the fire (the trial). The reason for this is so that God can show us how weak we are and how strong He is.
Why would he want to do this?
God wants us to learn to lean on Him more and less upon ourselves. Paul prayed three times for God to take the problem away, yet it was this same problem that caused him to approach God’s throne even more. And that is what God is getting at here.
The more we feel our weakness, the more we will desire help – and, as Christians, our strength is found in God and His Word. The more that temptation comes, the more you are driven to your knees and into a deeper study of His Word to seek comfort… And this is how God strengthens us. This is how He strengthens our faith in Him.
God chooses the discipline of the trial to drive us to have a closer walk with Him.
I know that someone is going through something really trying today. You have followed in the Lord’s precepts, you have listened to His calling in your life, you are striving towards righteousness, and yet it feels as though those trials, temptations, and difficulties, simply won’t go away. My encouragement to you would be to have faith in God – there is a lesson He would like for you to learn, there is a purpose for your struggle. And in order to know that purpose, you have got to stick with Him through the storm. You have got to trust Him with your life more than ever before. And you have got to keep persevering in prayer.
His promise for us is that “My grace is sufficient for you: for my power is made perfect in your weakness.”
When we then have victory over that temptation, we then testify to the universe that God is able to keep us from falling and His Word is true and His love is constant and His grace is surely sufficient for all who choose Him. Thus, we glorify God.
Will you allow God to use your difficulties to glorify Him today?
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