Many of you have suffered many trials in life and still carry the scars or even the chains that still enslave you.
Mankind since the beginning has always been challenged by why God allows things to occur while preventing others.
We once thought it was solely based on pleasing the gods. In some cases, it was strictly based on karma. Other times people thought that God created us but then left us to our own demise. Over time, God revealed through prophets and His chosen people why certain things occur.
It is an answer that will not satisfy the seeker who is uncomfortable with faith.
There are many instances of God using suffering including the obvious of Jesus His Son. Here below is a passage about Joseph.
Genesis 45:5-7
English Standard Version
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. If you can recall, Joseph had a vision that led to his brother's jealousy. The vision showed that one day his family would bow down to him as if he were a king. Joseph despite his circumstances must have never forgotten the vision as he would face the absence of freedom, the subjugation of higher authority, false accusations, 3 to 12 years in prison, and the gut wrenching feeling of being forgotten before things would start to get better.
But notice verse 5,
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
For God sent me!
Before you to preserve life.
Despite the evil intentions of man that God allowed, His ways are higher than ours. We can never comprehend why God allows or intervenes. But rest assured, there is purpose even in the acts of demons, evil plans of men, and the sinful failures of the flesh.
God allowed him to ultimately preserve the lives of an unspeakable amount of people. A father would suffer the thought of losing his son. A brother would suffer the thought of failing to save his brother. And Joseph would suffer to preserve the life of his family, the country, and the surrounding people.
But we have the benefit of hindsight. We can read and see the results for centuries to come. For them living in the moments, they had only grief, regret, and hardship. Joseph had only his faith in the depths of prison.
Today we can not see the future or know the reasons why God allows or intervenes but the same challenge for Joseph remains for the Christian. To abide in faith.
Faith at face value may not seem to comfort the suffering but “faith in” has a substance that can sustain.
It is important to determine what you have faith in? Creation? Humanity? Self? Or Jesus Christ?
If you accept Jesus your Messiah our Lord and Savior then your faith is in the promises of the Lord. He tells us we will face trials, tribulations, hardship, and that the world will hate us as they hated Him. That is no surprise but He does promise a prosperous life in the faith which is not a promise of great physical health or wealth.
Sure He still blesses this way but ultimately we are guided in a prosperous life of faith. A spiritual maturity that has been tested against the cross, the gladiator arenas, the stake of fire, the guillotine, and the sword of forced submission.
Why does God allow suffering? He tells us why just as Joseph understood.
For God sent me!
Before you to preserve life.
We are sent to preserve eternal life by being the salt and light amid suffering.
Simple.
Eternal life is far longer and more valuable than a few years in a fallen and wicked world.
Faith demands a response. “Faith in” creates a response toward the important tenets of the faith.
If we believe Jesus is who He says He is then we adopt the will of the Lord. We hold to what He holds dear. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He forgave us. We rejoice in persecution because we are being counted worthy to suffer as He did. We sing of joy in suffering because we are not a people without hope.
I pray you hear and see the spiritual truth within this. God open the eyes of those blinded by worldly matters. If they wish to have this type of hope and faith, I pray they seek you, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. God has set us free from the chains of sin and death through His Son. Trust in Him and be set free from guilt, shame, regret, fear, hate, anger, hurt, and pride. Never to return to the bondage of slavery.
Galatians 5:1 ESV
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The yoke of slavery came from being under the weight of the law where sin was exposed. 2 Corinthians 3:7 calls it a ministry of death. The sin of the flesh and the sin of others. Living unredeemed or enslaved by the hurtful acts of the unredeemed is not the freedom that Galatians 5:1 speaks of.
2 Corinthians 3:7-9
English Standard Version
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
The ministry of death (the Mosiac law) was brought to an end through the ministry of the Spirit. First came the ministry of condemnation then came the ministry of righteousness. All the pain attributed to sin can be redeemed once given over to the Lord.
Live in the freedom of Christ today!
Mankind since the beginning has always been challenged by why God allows things to occur while preventing others.
We once thought it was solely based on pleasing the gods. In some cases, it was strictly based on karma. Other times people thought that God created us but then left us to our own demise. Over time, God revealed through prophets and His chosen people why certain things occur.
It is an answer that will not satisfy the seeker who is uncomfortable with faith.
There are many instances of God using suffering including the obvious of Jesus His Son. Here below is a passage about Joseph.
Genesis 45:5-7
English Standard Version
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. If you can recall, Joseph had a vision that led to his brother's jealousy. The vision showed that one day his family would bow down to him as if he were a king. Joseph despite his circumstances must have never forgotten the vision as he would face the absence of freedom, the subjugation of higher authority, false accusations, 3 to 12 years in prison, and the gut wrenching feeling of being forgotten before things would start to get better.
But notice verse 5,
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
For God sent me!
Before you to preserve life.
Despite the evil intentions of man that God allowed, His ways are higher than ours. We can never comprehend why God allows or intervenes. But rest assured, there is purpose even in the acts of demons, evil plans of men, and the sinful failures of the flesh.
God allowed him to ultimately preserve the lives of an unspeakable amount of people. A father would suffer the thought of losing his son. A brother would suffer the thought of failing to save his brother. And Joseph would suffer to preserve the life of his family, the country, and the surrounding people.
But we have the benefit of hindsight. We can read and see the results for centuries to come. For them living in the moments, they had only grief, regret, and hardship. Joseph had only his faith in the depths of prison.
Today we can not see the future or know the reasons why God allows or intervenes but the same challenge for Joseph remains for the Christian. To abide in faith.
Faith at face value may not seem to comfort the suffering but “faith in” has a substance that can sustain.
It is important to determine what you have faith in? Creation? Humanity? Self? Or Jesus Christ?
If you accept Jesus your Messiah our Lord and Savior then your faith is in the promises of the Lord. He tells us we will face trials, tribulations, hardship, and that the world will hate us as they hated Him. That is no surprise but He does promise a prosperous life in the faith which is not a promise of great physical health or wealth.
Sure He still blesses this way but ultimately we are guided in a prosperous life of faith. A spiritual maturity that has been tested against the cross, the gladiator arenas, the stake of fire, the guillotine, and the sword of forced submission.
Why does God allow suffering? He tells us why just as Joseph understood.
For God sent me!
Before you to preserve life.
We are sent to preserve eternal life by being the salt and light amid suffering.
Simple.
Eternal life is far longer and more valuable than a few years in a fallen and wicked world.
Faith demands a response. “Faith in” creates a response toward the important tenets of the faith.
If we believe Jesus is who He says He is then we adopt the will of the Lord. We hold to what He holds dear. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He forgave us. We rejoice in persecution because we are being counted worthy to suffer as He did. We sing of joy in suffering because we are not a people without hope.
I pray you hear and see the spiritual truth within this. God open the eyes of those blinded by worldly matters. If they wish to have this type of hope and faith, I pray they seek you, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. God has set us free from the chains of sin and death through His Son. Trust in Him and be set free from guilt, shame, regret, fear, hate, anger, hurt, and pride. Never to return to the bondage of slavery.
Galatians 5:1 ESV
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The yoke of slavery came from being under the weight of the law where sin was exposed. 2 Corinthians 3:7 calls it a ministry of death. The sin of the flesh and the sin of others. Living unredeemed or enslaved by the hurtful acts of the unredeemed is not the freedom that Galatians 5:1 speaks of.
2 Corinthians 3:7-9
English Standard Version
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
The ministry of death (the Mosiac law) was brought to an end through the ministry of the Spirit. First came the ministry of condemnation then came the ministry of righteousness. All the pain attributed to sin can be redeemed once given over to the Lord.
Live in the freedom of Christ today!
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