Blessed TEMPORARY Suffering

My little girl cried from the pin-prick of pain when she received vaccinations and inoculations as a toddler. But I am sure they have saved her from a lot of suffering and possibly even death. The suffering the Lord permits in our lives is intended to save us from much worse things, the Lake of Fire, for one.

Psalm 119:71: It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

For several months before I received Jesus I wept more than I have at any other time in my memory. I may have cried more in my infancy, but I don*t remember that anyway. Since I received Jesus I have had plenty of troubles . . . mild persecution, insults, illness and other troubles. But I would rather have the abundance of troubles I have had WITH Jesus than the broken heart I had before He entered my life.

Psalm 34:18: The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Very few of the Bible studies that I have written called attention to my troubles. I have not meant to describe the Christian life as trouble free. It is certainly not trouble free. I have never been without troubles. Christians have them temporarily and unbelievers have them eternally. We all have troubles.

Philippians 1:29: For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

2 Timothy 3:12: Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

For Christians there is an antidote for troubles that is not available to unbelievers.

Matthew 5:11: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

I don*t like being reviled or persecuted but usually those things are followed by joy as quickly as I remember that I was reviled or persecuted for his sake. The joy that the Lord gives me since I received Jesus interrupts and overshadows the troubles. It often makes me forget the troubles. It makes the troubles seem smaller. The mountain peaks of joy are higher than the depth of the troubles. Before Jesus the depth of the troubles was lower and I cannot really call the high points joy.

Psalm 30:5: For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

If I am to be a blessing to others in the future, I may need to share more about the troubles that the Lord has rescued me from and share with others that He can do that for them also.

Psalm 40:2: He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

We might call the problems in our lives darkness but Jesus is the light of the world. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light.

John 8:12: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

There was no problem in my life in those months before Christ, or for that matter, in all of my life before Christ that equals the blessedness I have now. There is no problem in the lives of Christians that can be compared with the uninterrupted joy we will have in Heaven.

Romans 8:18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Care to discuss Blessed TEMPORARY Suffering with Ron?

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