Trials. Put them on a scale of 1 to 10. Ones are those trial we are able to ignore. the hearing of gossip, the purchase of a frivolity, commercials on the TV. As they move up the scale they become harder to ignore. An 8 through 10 robs us of our security and comfort in anything fleshly as refuse to be ignored. A 10 devastates.
I've hear the phrase and even used it, "quiet desperation." That's when we are so tried we are numbed and all we can seem to do is just to sit and ache. At about an 8 we begin to complain to God - which is fine as long as we do not complain about God. These trials (8-10) are ghastly experiences that though the should drive us to our knees, more often than not they drive us to fleshly solutions of our own imaginations, scheming and self preservative impulses.
I do not write this from a vacuum. I wish I did. I know the numbing power of trials when, in my case, they rob you of any sense of self confidence, self worth, and, well, self. You look in the mirror and see no-one. Like a vampire you have no reflection for the trial has destroyed what you once thought you saw there.
As time passes everything, every sin passes through your mind claiming credit for your circumstances telling you that there is no one to blame but you. Some of that is, of course, true. We all do (or don't do) things which result in trying times. There is guilt there for us but - but - but!!!!!!!
Regardless of the sin which entangles and contributed to our trial God is in charge. he could easily have kept us from the trial. He could have provide a consequential remedy to keep us from the trial and the trial from us. God and His grace are not only bigger than our sin but bigger than its consequences as well.
Trials are always a consequence of sin - ALWAYS. It may not be our sin or the sin of anyone we know but at the root of trials is sin. God is bigger than sin and the trials they bring. We can with confidence say that God is the first cause of our trials and if He is and if He is good and if He wants the best for us - of what do we have to complain except the loss of of fleshly comforts.
The purpose of His allowing trials into our lives is so that we may be made more like Christ. If you read the gospels closely you will see that not a moment of His life was trial free. Whether is was calming the agitation between Mary and Martha, confronting the schemes of the Pharisees or the brutal cut of the whip he was not ever trial free. And if He was not why do we expect (even demand) to be?
Our sense of desperation should never be quiet. It needs to be communicated to the first cause of our trial, the God who redeemed us. Yes, it will be messy and often tacky and even more often tearful but we must go to the one who holds the trial in His hands.
Consider:
Ecclesiastes 7:14 ESV
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
The consider:
Phil. 5:5b-7
The Lord is at hand; [6] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Prayer - supplication - thanksgiving. Not quietly but will all the desperate energy or even the last gasp of your heart. No quiet desperation - but rather a loud one crying out to the Lord God Almighty who has declared both the beginning of your trial as well as the end. Don't "think" about it. Do it. It is your not having done in times of comfort that makes it so hard to do in times of trial.
Pray - ask - give thanks in and for your trial for you are being refined that you might be conformed to the image of the Son. There is much more work there than we commonly think - if we think at all.
In my trial I have lost much and may well lose more but I know I have lost nothing and for that I can give thanks. I can thank Him for forcing open a fist which held on to pride and fleshly confidence. I can thank Him for less to worry over, maintain, even dust and clean. Oh dear friends pay close attention to the trials in your life be they ones of tens and thank Him for His good purpose in them. Yes, thank Him for them - it's is hard - very hard and those prayers may ring hollow in your ears. But pray not from your feeling but rather pray from what you know of His faithfulness and goodness and love for you. do not fret an worry if you "feel" it not. Feelings are fickled things as easily altered and moved as a feather in the wind. Pray with your mind and your heart will follow.
Proverbs 3
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (ESV)
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