29 Jan Another in The Fire

There are going to be times when everything shakable in you is going to be shaken; times when you may have to cry yourself to sleep at night, and when your eyes will long to see the faces of your loved ones; times when your heart will ache and your eyes sore. During those times remember one thing – you are promised a kingdom by God, a kingdom which cannot be shaken.

Pain and suffering are universal experiences but in the case of God’s children there is a set purpose of God behind each. God allows them in our lives due to many reasons. Sometimes we go through them as a punishment for our sins. Like a father disciplines his child, so does God. In 1Samuel -12, God sent Nathan to King David and told him that he had done evil in the eyes of the Lord since he got Uriah killed by the Ammonites and took his wife to be his own. Since David brought utter contempt towards God, the son born to him died. Many a times sufferings are to test us, to teach us His will and patience.

Romans -5 tells us that we also glory in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. At times God also lets us suffer to build humility within us. Deuteronomy 8 tells us that God led His people for 40 years in the wilderness to know what is in their hearts. He humbled them and caused them to hunger and then fed them with manna to teach them that man does not live by bread alone but from every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

He also allows suffering to promote His glory. John 9 :1-3 tells us that when He saw a blind man from birth His disciples asked Him who sinned – this man or his parents that he was born blind?. Jesus said “ Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Then Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man’s eyes, then told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam and he came home seeing.

And finally, He allows suffering for the spreading of His good news.

We all know the story of Jim Elliot and his four friends, they had no visions, no voices but the counsel of a heart which God desires. Pete Fleming being a masters in literature and expected college professor, Jim being exceptionally talented in architectural drawings during his polytechnic and one of the best wrestlers of his college, to throw away their lives among ignorant savages of Ecuador was thought absurd. It was hard for them to keep rejoicing, hard to love ungrateful people, but they kept in mind that their lives called for infinite adaptability.

Similarly the lives of many others, such as Corrie Ten Boom and her family shows how they protected many from the cruelty of Nazi regime putting their life at stake for Christ’s sake. George Muller living on radical prayer and depending on God to supply all his needs for the orphan children. Amy Carmichael and her determination in freeing many from the powerful customs which kept them hostage. Martin Luther and courage in taking one little nail, one written parchment and his sharp tongue to turn this world being ruled by a corrupt and greedy church upside down.

Richard Wurmbrand being imprisoned and tortured by communists in Romania for 14 years and William Tyndale who gave his life for defying the law that forbade Bible translation into English becoming one of the biggest reasons that we are able to read this right now.

There is a history of suffering behind the fact that you own a Bible. The sufferings that you face in this time are insignificant compared to the glory which is going to be revealed to you if you keep walking in Him. Winning your campuses and witnessing Christ in your workplaces won’t happen by living life lavishly but rather by giving lavishly. God doesn’t give us a miserable life but a beautiful life with pain at times and even in those times we ought to rejoice in His love, sing His love and feel His love when we look at the sacrifice He made for us on the cross of Calvary now that we have an eternal life.

Remember the promises in Psalm 91 and most importantly remember that God always keeps His promises. Remember that God will comfort you through His word and through His people, He will walk with you through every fire and terminate your pains, if not now then surely at Christ’s return. Daniel’s three friends were thrown in the furnace which was heated seven times more than usual having declared to the king that their God would deliver them. And there was another in the fire, another in their midst who delivered them from even the smell of fire on their clothes.

Remember how you’ve been set free, remember the cross which bears the burden for you and me, and remember that there will always be another in the fire.

Ms. Stuti Farmer, is studying B. Sc., 2nd year in Dehradun. She loves singing and writing. She is actively involved in EU ministry.