Last week during our staff prayer we were talking about “The Prayer of Jabez” which was a bestselling Christian book, based on 1 Chronicles 4:10 where a man (Jabez) prays for God to bless him, enlarge his territory and keep him from harm so that he will be free from pain. Millions of Christians were inspired to pray similar prayers… because we ALL want God’s blessing, greater influence in our world, …and none of us want pain. But, we also need to remember that God often uses trials and even “pain” to help us grow, become stronger, and trust Him more.
Jesus, the brother of James writes this:
James 1:2-4 - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. NLT
If our biggest priority is a lack of trials or pain, we may miss out on the maturity and perseverance that trials produce. We will never learn to fully depend upon the Lord or grow the kind of faith that can move mountains.
My biggest arguments with God over the years have been about why He allows godly people to be in pain or suffer. There are a lot of people in this world that probably deserve to suffer, but it grieves me to see people who love the Lord hurting. Yet, every time I’ve told the Lord how unfair it seems to me, He just reminds me that He’s God… and I’m not!... that He uses our brokenness for His purpose and, ultimately, for our own good. The older I get, the more I see the truth in that lesson. And, I firmly believe that when we get to heaven and see the full scope of what God did through our “momentary trials”, our only response will be, “That was a great idea!”
Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus. He is our only hope!
