Patience in Affliction
“During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.” Hebrews 5:7-8 Berean”
What kind of father is our Father God? We can learn more about Father God by observing God’s interactions with Jesus, His only begotten Son. He did not make an easy path for our Savior. He did not destroy Jesus’ enemies from this earth. He did not create a family life where His siblings all knew and honored who He was. He had no earthly possessions, no wife or children, not even a permanent home. Yet Father God was always with Him, always giving Him words, wisdom, and strength to deal with His sufferings.
When we start walking with the Lord, it is so good to know He loves us and will take care of us. Our Father expects, however, that we “grow up into Him.” It doesn’t work much character in us if He always and immediately grants what we ask for. Realizing that God’s judgment, His discipline, is meant for our good, helps us mature in trust and faith. Despite human doubt and questions, God does know what He is doing!
As we begin to experience more adversity, and more suffering, it’s tempting to blame this on the enemy. But God Himself, like any excellent parent, disciplines us. As His children, He disciplines us for our good, so we are made fit for His kingdom. If Jesus learned obedience by what He suffered as a Son, so do we. We may not understand it, but, quoting Proverbs 3:11-12, the writer of Hebrews wrote:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and he chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV
We can easily recognize our need for patience while we wait for the Lord to set things right on this earth. He will do so. He promised. He is faithful and true, but He sure never seems to be in a hurry! The only account of a nearly instantaneous change in the Bible is what happened to Saul on the road to Damascus when he was still persecuting God’s people. He is always able to do this but rarely handles things in this manner, a disappointment to many of us!
As a Jew, Saul was well-prepared in the Law of Moses and had a zeal for righteousness. He was, however, completely opposed to the New Covenant brought by Jesus. Christians were destroying all that Saul had believed and stood for in his life thus far. Yet, God’s conversion of Saul of Tarsus to Paul, the great apostle, happened in a very short time:
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.’‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything.” Acts 9:1-7 Berean
God took Paul’s eyesight until his vision—his understanding—was changed. God directed Ananias to go to where Saul was to lay hands upon him for his sight to be restored. Can you imagine Ananias being told that he is to go to this great enemy of Christians, who had been arresting and turning believers over for execution? Ananias is understandably a bit reluctant given Saul’s reputation, but God has everything prepared:
“‘Get up!’ the Lord told [Ananias]. ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’
But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.
‘Go!’ said the Lord. ‘This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.’
So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’
At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.” Acts 9:11-18 Berean
How amazed the people of that time must have been! Ananias immediately calls Saul his brother and he was accepted among the disciples in that city. God made these changes, saving and baptizing Paul with the Holy Spirit, all within a few days. God had need of Paul to carry the news of the New Covenant to the Gentiles and also as an example to his Jewish brothers and sisters.
Paul did suffer much for the cause of Christ. His afflictions brought about further changes in his heart and character from which we still benefit today. But it remains a rare event to be changed this rapidly by God. Saul, now Paul, already had the right heart for this work, but needed the Truth to change the determined direction he had been taking.
Much of the time, it takes years for us to truly change after our first meeting with Jesus Christ. For some, God’s dealings await another eon (era or age) for fulfillment beyond life on this earth. Thankfully, God is an excellent and most patient Father, waiting for the good fruit of His spirit to develop within our hearts to shine forth to others. His discipline is meant to help us, changing us right here and now so we may live in His Kingdom of love, peace and joy.
The key is what God requires for God’s plan to be fulfilled. Some of us follow Paul’s example, pursuing the prize of His high calling. His plan is redemptive as it continues to unfold through the ages, though our hearts long for it now. There’s where the patience comes in—for us! It is so difficult to see the pain and suffering of the innocent, to pray and pray for change in harmful situations of war, famine, drought, floods, hurricanes, tornados, typhoons, and other disasters, sweeping illnesses causing multiple deaths, and economic troubles adding t personal, family, national and international troubles.
We are all surrounded by human suffering. There is pain, distress, suffering, and horror on a daily basis. We pray for Him to “pull down the spiritual strongholds” in the leadership of all countries, including our own. But God has privileged His people to partner with Him in bringing about change, most especially as intercessors:
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence,
for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV
Intercessors are continually lifting up painful circumstances to the Lord, praying for all men everywhere as He directs. Sometimes, though, the unrelenting evidence of continual human suffering becomes hard to bear for compassionate hearts. We grieve for parents and children in countries torn by war and famine and disease, either having to flee multiple times or stay without clean water, air, utilities, safe food, adequate health care, shelter or warmth. We hurt for mothers who must walk hours just to get water for their families.
We grieve with those who grieve, intercede for those under great burdens. We are saddened by the illness and death of others who lose their lives to all the illnesses caused by such suffering in our earthly bodies. We are concerned for those whose entire lives are destroyed by natural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity in our present day. We feel sadness for the homeless everywhere who don’t have the basics of food, clothing and shelter in every city in the US, many with untreated mental illness, invisibly suffering, and with children making up the homeless majority.
These things are not just occurring in some faraway country we hear about. These are here, whether invisible to our daily lives or not. Many children in our very own prosperous midwest state go to bed hungry, every single night, with parents working two or three jobs just to survive. How can we “take our ease” when so many around us are heavily burdened? How can we hide out and care about only our own lives and those we love with such a needy world crying out for God, in need of salvation and redemption?
As we continually pray for all men everywhere, we may question if it is doing any good. Our puny efforts to pray or to help in other ways do not visibly change the overall landscape of global suffering. It’s like we’re pushing against immovable mountains. We surely have need of patience on this prayer quest. Recently I asked the Lord, “How can you, God who is love, stand to see all of it? I can hardly stand to see what I see, with my small amount of love.” He said, quite clearly, “Because I know the end from the beginning.”
Whether it takes years, ages, or centuries, His plan, what He wills, is accomplished. Do you doubt that Almighty God will not have everything He wills to be done? Who is to prevent the Master of the Universe from accomplishing this? God does know the end from the beginning and shares more of His plan for the ages with us as we walk with Him. His will is to save all men. All will be dealt with, redeemed in His way, in His time, and by His spirit. This life is not our homeland nor our final destination.
Our God does not miss anything! If the salvation of all men, sometimes called the “word of reconciliation for all” is the will of God, as is clearly stated in His word, I say again, who or what will prevent God from fulfilling His will? This requires faith in what we have not yet seen as well as patience in the unfolding of His will. We require His presence to teach us to look beyond this life, this earthly existence, our finite circumstances, and this time and age on the earth.
If this life was the end of the story for humanity, we would, like Paul said, “be of all men most miserable!” We, too, learn obedience by what we suffer. God says not to “fret yourself about evildoers” which the Concordant Literal translates:
“At the fall of your enemy, do not rejoice, and at his stumbling do not let your heart exult, lest Yahweh should see and it be evil in His eyes so that He turns His anger from Him.
Do not grow hot over evil doers. Do not be jealous over the wicked. There shall be no good end for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked, it shall be extinguished.” Proverbs 24:17-20 Concordant Literal
God does not want the attitudes of our hearts to get in the way of His dealings with our enemies. Often we do not see the “no good end” that evil men come to, but God says “Don’t worry about it.” Do not be envious. Evil men and women may appear to be prospering in this life, but God says absolutely they will come to a bad end. Some of us have done just that—grown hot over evildoers, wanting God to eradicate them, literally take them out!
We are surely and absolutely in need of God’s patience in this walk of faith! The Concordant version of Psalms 37 expresses this so beautifully:
“Do not heat yourself up because of evildoers; Do not be jealous over those doing iniquity. For like grass they shall quickly be snipped off, and like green verdure, they shall decay. Trust in the Lord and do good; tabernacle in the land and graze in faithfulness…
Be still before Yahweh, and wait for Him: Do not heat yourself up because someone prospers his way, because a man is carrying out his schemes. Hold back from anger and forsake fury; Do not heat yourself up: it leads only to evil. For the evildoers, they shall be cut off.” Psalms 37:1-3; 7-9 Concordant
Be still and wait?? Don’t get all upset about it?? But we do get “heated up,”f retting at the apparent success of evil. God reminds us that they will be cut off. All will come to the end of evil deeds …but when? It seems as if they are always getting away with schemes to deceive, lie, cheat and steal their way to success in this life. It’s even more difficult and painful when it is not an evil dictator in another country, but someone in our own lives who repeatedly hurts us or others, including those who profess to love us.
We may pray to God that He stop them and their hurtful ways, but they appear to continue on their merry way with no obvious hindrances to their schemes. Then, like it or not, we learn many lessons about loving the unlovable, though God may direct us to limit our time and actions with those who continually abuse our love and fellowship. There will be a time in the ages when we won’t just go in and out of the peace, joy, and love in His Kingdom's land of promise.
In this psalm, David predicts the day when we will tabernacle — dwell — in our land of promise permanently. He will empower us to live in the kingdom of love, peace, and joy with no disturbance, no tears, no woe. We will be changed into His image and likeness so that we will forever be with the Lord. We need patience to wait for God, to see His promises unfolding in our lives. As my husband recently said, “We are moving from woe into wow!!” ]’’
We may learn to endure wrongful treatment while not murmuring or complaining about God’s failure to fix things for us. We can relate to David’s frustration with all the opposition he faced in doing what the Lord told him to accomplish. He’s in the right, doing God’s will, but those coming against him appear to be effective. Here God says “Don’t heat yourself, don’t fret.” Don’t do it!
Evildoers will be dealt with, in this life or the next. Our anger, our fury at them only leads to evil for ourselves, robbing us of rest and peace. Paul’s zealous fury and delight in arresting and killing those who believed in Jesus is one example. God had a purpose and a plan for this man who was such an enemy of Christ. He alone decides who will be changed in this lifetime and who will only be changed after passing on.
All things will be corrected in the ages to come, for the living and the dead. We are to trust the Lord and do good, and our expected end is to dwell in the land of promise peacefully. This is the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles when God tabernacles in His people. We can always see others suffering in ways God has not allowed in our lives. Many of us are blessed with better circumstances we did nothing to earn. Being born in the US is a great circumstance regardless of our country’s problems and faults. If it were not so, we would not have the multitudes of immigrants wanting to come and live here.
One blessing builds upon another, easing our lives even when we all experience distressing world circumstances. The Lord promises blessings for the children of the godly from earlier generations. When we are born into a family of godly believers, this is another tremendous blessing unearned by us. It’s provided because previous generations in our heritage faithfully served the Lord. There is a reward in that!
Given this undeserved favor, we risk arrogantly priding ourselves in how good we are doing while discounting the layer upon layer of advantages God has allowed for His purposes.
“You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
but showing graciousness and lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Deuteronomy 5:9-10 NASB
These are blessings He has freely granted,, having nothing to do with our worthiness or self-righteousness. It is His grace, His unearned favor. How unwise to assume we are or would do better than others when we have never lived in their lives nor faced their challenges! That’s a judgment we truly should not make. How can we know that we would do better when we have never been in their exact circumstances?
Whether we like it or not, parents pass down generational characteristics to their children that also cause unearned suffering. These are taken care of on the cross, but we need to bring them there and leave them. As we walk with Him, He frees us from His punishment stemming from generational sin, including ancestors who hated Him. No blame or excuse will do with the Lord. We do not have to accept any generational curse, nor excuse our sin by saying we are “just like this or that” because of our parents.
God breaks generational patterns while blessing future generations of those who love and serve Him. We are fortunate, indeed, if we have been blessed with godly parents and grandparents, but God has allowed others to be born into different circumstances and their suffering is greater as a result. Some, like Joni Eareckson Tada, experience adversity that lasts a lifetime. Her spinal cord was severed after a diving accident over 50 years ago when she was just 19. Her website, Joni and Friends: Sharing Hope through Hardship. is particularly impactful for others who have physical disabilities as she has. She speaks eloquently and with much credibility given the suffering she has had that formed her abundant faith.
Joni’s third book, A Step Further, written in 1978 and republished many times, made a deep impression on me. As a quadriplegic, Joni fields many questions from those struggling with their own circumstances. Some feel guilty about their distress when comparing themselves to her situation. She explains that we are all in different places on this “ladder of suffering.” Some are above us in deep distress and unease in this world, higher on the ladder of suffering. Others are below us, not having gone through what we have to be disciplined and defined by God in this life.
Wherever we are, suffering is suffering. Joni shares what God has taught her about suffering and hardship in this life. Here is one of her gems of truth:
“Jesus went without comfort so that you might have it. He postponed joy so that you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so that you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. He had no real fellowship so that fellowship might be yours, this moment. This alone is enough cause for great gratitude!’”
The truth of the matter is, Satan and God may want the exact same event to take place – but for different reasons. Satan’s motive in Jesus’ crucifixion was rebellion; God’s motive was love and mercy. Satan was a secondary cause behind the Crucifixion, but it was God who ultimately wanted it, willed it, and allowed Satan to carry it out. And the same holds true for disease.” (Tada, 2017)
Joni had more nightmarish experiences through the years of her accident and recovery as a quadriplegic wheelchair-bound adult. She steadfastly holds to the truth that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called by Him for a purpose. She did not see her life destroyed by Satan’s actions but rather, blessed and grateful to God for His love and mercy in it. She surely had need of patience before she moved from adversity to hope!
God does not seem to fairly distribute the sufferings He allows in His plans for us. In addition to being in a wheelchair since she was 21, most of her adult life, Joni has also recovered from cancer several times. It is unlikely that she anticipated the life she now lives as an author, skilled artist who uses the paintbrush in her mouth, ministering to thousands through speaking and writing, married and busy with teaching others. With God, the end is indeed better than the beginning!
Comparing ourselves to others only leads to feelings of being better than—superior—or less than—inferior—rather than just different in what God allows for our good. The phrase “comparisons are odious” is said to have originated in the 14th century and is still quoted to remind us that comparisons, frankly, stink! We don’t see what has come easy to us, what blessings flow from God that gives us an advantage.
We are often, however, much more acutely aware of the adversity He allows for our growth. We don’t understand why we suffer something while others are suffering less. The answer is God’s purpose and calling for us, with “gifts differing” needed to equip us for the path of life we are to follow. People minister, teach, and write books about their experiences of suffering and loss to help the rest of us. Many Christian “how to do it” books zealously promote the path of success after adversity, urging others to do it their way.
Joni, however, is sharing hard-earned wisdom from God, not a prescribed formula for spiritual success as some do. She reveals patience in affliction in her ministry but, thankfully, we do not have to have the same circumstances. God knows the adversity that will bring about change within each of us, later to be used to strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thus it was with Peter before he betrayed the Lord three times after Jesus’ arrest:
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31–32 KJV
Who is enabled to minister so powerfully to the disabled like Joni? Just so, others may not be able to do what we are specifically called to do because it’s not God’s plan for them. God has taken us on His path for us, where we are measured by the stature of Jesus Christ only. We are God’s workmanship, and, as we surrender, He is in charge of making us what we ought to be.
“For we are God’s handiwork [workmanship], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV
We suffer what we suffer, with clear differences in our own pile of difficulties. While this does not seem fair in our human judgment, God never said our lives would be fair. Jesus did not experience fairness in His life, did He? The good news of the gospel is that God always makes a way of escape for even the most unbearable suffering a person may experience.
We are in awe of others who walk this earth with great serenity and godliness while experiencing unspeakable pain and suffering. Joni helps us to recognize that we are all hurting while being disciplined by our circumstances, even though there are others suffering more or less than we are. In Romans, we are reminded of the promised outcome for believers in God:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV
How God’s people handle suffering and adversity can be quite amazing! Another saint from whom we can humbly learn about patience and hope in the midst of hell on this earth is Corrie Ten Boom. She, her sister Betsie, and her father were taken to one of the Nazi concentration camps for harboring Jews in their Dutch home during WW II. They were all treated cruelly, deprived of basic needs, living in squalor, so very many cruelly treated and dying all around them. After their arrest and incarceration, Corrie saw her father die 10 days later and her sister, Betsie, shortly thereafter.
Surely God would not expect a believer to forgive these heinous crimes. But Corrie’s God-given forgiveness and mercy for the Nazis who murdered her family and tortured her happened and is absolutely mind-blowing. God was with them in this “lowest hell,” allowing them to lead others in scripture and worship while suffering unspeakable harm.
Corrie’s testimony underlines the truth that God is everywhere and with us in everything. He even used the fleas that plagued their prison barracks to keep guards away when they were worshiping the Lord and sharing the Word. It’s also a wonderful example of unity of believers despite their various religious backgrounds.
Betsie, Corrie’s sister, shared these words with Corrie before her death in Ravensbruck:
"… (we) must tell them what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here." (Carlson, Carole C. Corrie ten Boom, Her Life, Her Faith: a Biography. Old Tappan, NJ: F.H. Revell Co., 1983.)
Corrie was commissioned by God to do this very thing. Only a few years after the war ended, Corrie returned to Germany to preach about forgiveness. One of the guards who had been in Ravensbruck came up to her after her ministry. He told her, since the war, he had become a Christian. He knew he was forgiven by God, but wanted her forgiveness as well. What a challenge for Corrie to have her heart and actions match her ministry of forgiveness:
“In 1947, I traveled from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. ‘When we confess our sins,’ I would say to audiences, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever’. At the end of one meeting, I saw him, working his way forward right towards me in the crowd. This man had been a cruel guard at the prison where we had been sent.
Now he was in front of me, and he thrust out his hand: ‘A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea! You mentioned this prison in your talk,’ he said. ‘I was a guard there. But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein, will you forgive me?’ And he reached out his hand.
And I stood there… and could not speak. I had to forgive him – I knew that. Jesus says, ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’ I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘Jesus, help me!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’
And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’ For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands; he, the former guard, and I, the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then. I had forgiven, and I was restored to my heavenly Father.” (New World Encyclopedia on Corrie Ten Boom.)
In her obedience to God’s will, Corrie was given what was necessary to truly forgive this man from her heart. What precious wisdom she has in stating that forgiveness will follow in our hearts (mind, will, and emotions) when we are obedient to His commands. Corrie Ten Boom is an outstanding example of how God brings “joy for sadness, peace for all thy pain!” How can any of us deny that God is in truth the changer of obedient hearts! He is able to work forgiveness and even good from the most heinous of human cruelty against humanity.
Another gem in Corrie’s writings is the wisdom Corrie’s father gave her. She worried about facing the Nazis for harboring Jews. How would she be able to handle it? Her father told her that it’s like when they are waiting for their ticket to travel by train. God will give what is needed when we need it. We don’t need that ticket until we have to get on the train. It is so reassuring to know that what God calls us to do, He equips us to accomplish it. When Corrie unexpectedly faced that former Ravensbruck guard, He gave her the necessary “ticket” for forgiveness.
Both Joni Eareckson Tada and Corrie ten Boom are saints whose wisdom remains written upon my heart years after reading about their lives. Their messages of hope and faith make a difference for the rest of us. Many more have not had the calling or opportunity to share their stories but God knows them. Christians have endured centuries of martyrdom and cruelty, mistreatment and abuse, in so very many places around the globe —and still do.
The early Christians were tormented and killed, all of the disciples were put to death except John, many Christians have and continue to suffer unimaginable adversity and oppression. All show forth what God is able to do when His people surrender to Him in the midst of incredible suffering and adversity. We need patience to understand the end from the beginning if we are to be like Him.
Just look into the wise eyes of mature saints of all ages. We see a confident expectation of the end of their suffering as they forget the past and continue to walk with the Lord.
In Job, it states:
“For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear: Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away.
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.” Job 11:15-18 KJV
We often cannot see or imagine it, but our end in the Lord is better than our beginning! The apostle Paul tells us to forget the past and move on. God is an “ever present help in times of trouble” to those with an obedient heart and willingness to learn His ways. We can always reach out for His comfort and understanding. He knows when our suffering is overwhelming, whether deserved or not. He promises that we will come out of each hard time able to forget our misery, getting “better rather than bitter.”
It can be challenging to accept the truth that the yoke of our loving Lord is easy and the burdens He allows are light. Who deserves the droughts that have and are hitting many parts of the world? Do people living in some areas deserve the increasing weather changes bringing more tornadoes and hurricanes, floods and natural disasters? Does one population deserve the forest fires that follow extended dry spells?
Did any of us earn all the suffering and loss brought by the global pandemic? How can we say people who live in constant warfare and danger due to political leaders and dictators deserve their suffering? Do all the poor deserve to be poor, judged by others because of it? Do we deserve more because we happened to be born into a healthy prosperous family or nation? Whatever our circumstances, God always turns it for good for His own:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Psalms 46:1-3 KJV
Surely this is the Day of the Lord, where many spiritual mountains we have stood upon seemingly are being carried away. The soulish places in our earth are changing, with earthquakes within and shaking without. Everything is changing rapidly. God is dealing with the strongholds of men and their refuge of lies, tearing down what has worked against us. He is preparing the hearts of His people to be His representatives on this earth, with all the fullness of the seven spirits of God.
Have we seen all of this yet? No, but we need patience and we will.
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV
We can absolutely count on the Lord to empathize, understand and change our hearts through the discipline of suffering adversity. We are called to share in His sufferings, with our hearts rejoicing.
“But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, keep on rejoicing, so that when His glory [filled with His radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may rejoice with great joy.” 1 Peter 4:13 Berean
When we get a glimpse of the end from the beginning, we rejoice with great joy in the midst of affliction. Imagine that! Only God can create rejoicing, giving us joy while we endure such suffering. Check out a photo of Corrie Ten Boom or Joni Eareckson Tada. After all these two women have gone through—or because of it—the joy of the Lord radiates through these saints with a visible light of the spirit.
What is more joyful than when God changes us in circumstances that should or could overwhelm and even break us? It is humbling to even write about such things, given the incredible journey God has allowed so many of His precious saints to go through. It is confirmation that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can go through that He does not understand, provide for internally and externally, and turn for good when it came from and was meant for evil.
Yes, we do have need of patience, waiting upon our Lord to fully come within His people:
“For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.
For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:36-37 Amplified
In the Revelation to His people, the angel (messenger) speaking to the apostle John speaks to that future time for which we wait:
“And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: ‘There will be no more delay!’” Revelation 10:6 KJV
While we wait for this to come to be, we prayerfully sing the words from this song with other believers:
I'm praying, God come
And turn this thing around.
God, turn it around
God, turn it around
God, turn it around.
I'm calling on the name
That changes everything, yes
God, turn it around
God, turn it around
God, turn it around.”
(Church of the City. Songwriters: Anthony Skinner / Jess Cates / Jon Reddick)
Amen and amen, Lord, so be it!