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The Wonders Of Trials
How to Embrace the Wonders of Trials
I
recently picked up one of my old journals that I call my wilderness journal.
It
covers the late 1990s up to about 2001 and is filled with prayers, Scriptures,
conversations with God, revelations, confessions of sin and declarations of
faith.
During that season of life, I had lots of promises from God and hardly
any fulfillment in hand. But the visions and dreams were
strong.
As I reread this journal, I recalled the long process I went through to
reach the time of fulfillment, and God showed me some exciting things.
No one really likes to talk about
process. It isn't a very popular topic.
We live in an age of instant
gratification, when microwaves and drive-thru windows give us what we want as
soon as we want it.
But you can't read about the great people of faith in the
Bible without noticing that God spent years on them before bringing them into
the place of promise.
There was a process, and it was rarely an easy one.
Many
of them lifted up lots of prayers and cried plenty of tears before stepping
into the fulfillment of God's calling.
Process is part of God's plan.
Psalm 84 talks about those who
pass through the Valley of Baka, which literally means the "Valley of
Tears."
There is absolutely no condemnation in these verses for those who
go through that valley; experiencing trouble in this world doesn't mean you've
done something wrong.
I used to think it did. I assumed God was punishing me
for something if I was experiencing trials.
God may
discipline us if we are stubbornly going off in a direction contrary to His
will. But that's to bring us back, not to punish us. God is for us.
More often, our hardships have
absolutely nothing to do with God's discipline.
Jesus
assured His disciples that there would be trouble in this world. It's a given.
But
He also assured them He had overcome the world (John 16:33).
The
Valley of Tears is a common experience, and overcoming it is meant to be a
common experience too.
Unique
Opportunities in the Valley
As I go back and read my
journals, I realize what a precious time the wilderness provided.
God
allowed me to really get to know Him.
If
you're going through a season when you have yet to see the fulfillment of
promises God has given you, count on the fact that He has a plan, and it isn't
just for you to endure pain.
It's
for you to turn the place of weeping into a place of springs. That is His plan
for you, at least for now.
Turning the place of weeping into
a place of springs is very simple, but it isn't always easy.
You'll
be tempted to slip into discouragement and despair at times. That's normal, and
there is no condemnation from God for that.
Temptation
does not define you. But with every temptation, God provides a way of escape.
He
points you to a spring where you can go and drink deeply from the river of His
presence. He has joy for you in that place, a peace that passes understanding.
The wilderness is part of the
pilgrimage, but we are created for joy, even in the midst of that season.
When you meet people who say, "I'm going through a wilderness," and you can tell they
are in a place of misery, it isn't very encouraging, is it?
You
don't really want to be around them very much. That's because God didn't call
anyone to simply survive. He called us to thrive.
With His help, you can lay hold
of supernatural strength and rejoice in all circumstances.
And
in the midst of your journey through the valleys, you can see incredible,
glorious manifestations of God because that's where you find Him.
That's why I hesitate to talk of
wilderness and wonders as two different seasons of life.
There
are wonders in the wilderness too. They may be different kinds of wonders than
the ones you're dreaming about, but they are just as miraculous and meaningful.
If you can see something in the
Spirit that is part of God's plan for you, you can have it.
If
you're going through a wilderness season, you must develop God's perspective.
You
must fix your eyes on something greater than what you're going through because
if you can see only your circumstances, life is going to feel pretty bleak.
What
you focus on is what you move toward.
Abraham
kept his eyes on the promise. So did all the heroes of faith mentioned in
Hebrews 11.
They
had their sights set on a city they hadn't yet seen (Hebrews 11:13-16).
They
knew the power of vision.
A
New Perspective
If you were driving and suddenly
saw that the bridge over a giant chasm was out, would you just turn around and
go another way?
Or
would you stop the car, forget everything you had scheduled and try to warn
people of the danger ahead?
It's
easy to get so caught up in your own dreams and in getting through the
wilderness that you forget the reality of what a believer's ministry really is.
We
are all called to love God and love people.
An inward focus makes us lose sight
of the big picture — that without God, people are headed for grave danger and
have no hope unless someone warns them and leads them to the Savior.
In reading my old journals, I see
how focused I was on my own ministry aspirations. Fear makes us selfish, and
selfish ambition is a symptom of not trusting in God's ability to fulfill His
purposes.
In
turning my focus to Him in that wilderness season, I began to get an eternal
perspective.
As
much as we have done it to the least of these, God says, we have done it to Him
(Matthew 25:40).
If
we lose sight of the Father's heart for the lost, we lose our way and miss out
on the joy of bringing to God what blesses Him most: children reconciled to
Him.
Loving
people really connects us with the heartbeat of God. He wants us to be able to
see things from His perspective.
God gives you a fresh perspective
in your places of pain. You learn to focus on what's important.
God
draws you out of yourself and into Him, that place of true freedom.
When
God shows you that His ways are better than yours, give up on your own schemes.
Don't go kicking and screaming. Just let go.
We learn things in the wilderness
that we can't learn any other time, and we develop a hope that cannot be shaken
and a joy that can never be taken away.
And
that joy — our delight in the Lord Himself—prepares us to bear the glory of the
wonders that are coming.
Katherine Ruonala and
her husband, Tom, are the founders and senior ministers of Glory City Church in
Brisbane, Australia. Ruonala has recorded two music CDs. The Ruonalas lead the
Australian Prophetic Council and oversee the Glory Gathering International
Network.
For more study...
In her book, From Wilderness to Wonders: Embracing the Power
of Process (Charisma House), Katherine Ruonala reveals the
process of maturing. Using examples of godly men in the Bible, Ruonala shows
how trials are part of God's plan. You can find this book on amazon.com, christianbook .com or
wherever Christian books are sold.
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