The spiritual significance of Thanksgiving, like Christmas and Easter, is something that should be a part of our daily environment year round.
Born again believers and especially advancing disciples should not need to be reminded of all that we have to be thankful for in the spiritual realm.
Although thanking God is not always the first thing that comes to mind when blessings and prosperity come our way, it is relatively easy to give thanks, be it of the sincere or of the rote variety, during times of blessing rather than in times of adversity.
It is when we can rejoice and be thankful for the adversity that God sends or allows to take place that we have reached a stage of spiritual maturity that we can bring the maximum glory to God. It is the giving of thanks while in the midst of adversity that is the subject of this presentation.
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1Thess. 5: 18 NASB).”
Without a doubt, dealing with and adjusting to the adversity that God sends or allows to take place is one of the greatest obstacles that one must overcome along the road to spiritual maturity. The devil will not miss the opportunity to cast a cloud of doubt that adversity can bring into the environment of a weak believer, and all of us (humanly speaking), have a breaking point. Because of this breaking point, God never intended us for us to identify and/or to execute the post salvation spiritual life with the limitations of human power. In fact, although we can accomplish what appears to be good in the religious realm independently of God, John 15:5 teach that without God in the picture, we can accomplish nothing in the spiritual realm.
It is one’s level of spiritual maturity, measured by one’s knowledge (1Pet. 3: 18) and application (James 1: 22) of the Word of God that determines how much glory one brings to God. Bringing glory to God is the primary purpose for which God created the human race (and each one of us) in the first place. Miss that, and from God's point of view, one has lived his/her life here on Earth in vain (Eccl. 1: 2).
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! ALL is vanity (Eccl. 1: 2 NASB)."
Just how one is to bring glory to God differs from one dispensation (period of history) to another. The dispensation of the Church Age began in the 1st Century AD and will end when what theologians call the Rapture (1Thess. 4: 16, 17) takes place. As long as the Church that God designed remains here on Earth, one can rest assured that the Rapture has NOT yet taken place, and the function, responsibility, and accountability of/for glorifying God remains on the top of the daily "to do" list for Church Age believers.
Christian religion has engineered rituals and practices that began as early as infancy, but the first time that any given soul glorifies God during the dispensation of the Church Age was/ if and when he/she makes a conscious decision to believe in a presentation of the Gospel Message. Once saved, the born again believer is then called to bring further glory to by God by identifying and participating in the post salvation spiritual life of discipleship. Discipleship involves the ongoing and never- ending study and the application of the Word of God. Discipleship begins with one's own edification, but with the long term objective of participating in the Great Commission. It is fulfilling the Great Commission, and not making the devil's world (Luke 4: 6) a better place to live is the work that the Church that God designed was given to do.
The type of world that Scripture (Matt. 24: 22) speaks of, that will be in view when the Second Advent takes place, is hardly one in which good has overcome evil.
"For there will be a great tribulation, such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved' but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short (Matt. 24: 22). The elect refers to souls who are on the Earth and are born again during the Great Tribulation to come.
One can never be any more or any less saved than he/she became at the moment he/she was born again (John 3: 5, 7). However, the level of spiritual maturity that any given born again believer will attain (and his/her ability to bring further glory to God) IS dependent on the amount of 2Peter 3: 18 knowledge he/she secures, and his/her willingness to (James 1: 22) apply to one self, and to teach others. We all are teachers to the extent that each and every day, by what we say and do, we either lead people away from or towards God and the things of God.
Spiritual maturity is germane to our study of thanksgiving, as only when one has reached a relatively high level of spiritual maturity can he/she possess and express an attitude of thanksgiving in the midst of intense adversity.
When such things as disease, serious injury, physical pain, death, emotional suffering, financial or material loss that God sends (or that God allows) to come to our door, that last thing that a weak believer wants to hear is that it was the “will of God.”
Yet, the will of God IS manifested and made evident through everything the He sends or allows to come to our door. Everything includes all of what human viewpoint would see as negative, as well as what human viewpoint would see as positive. It is in the midst of the "negative" side of this everything that separates the rank and file born again believer with his/her limited ability to give thanks, from an advancing disciple who can give thanks in everything (1Thess. 5: 18 NASB)."
The omniscient (all knowing) omnipresence (God is everywhere) and omnipotence (all powerful) knows of everything that has taken place; is taking place; and that will take place everywhere, and does have the ability to intervene. Accordingly, everything that comes to our door has already passed first pass through the all knowing, all powerful, everywhere present, hands of God.
Communication is an essential part of any meaningful relationship. Prayer is the primary means through which we speak to God. In Phil 4: 6, we are instructed to make our prayer requests known with a thankful heart. A Thess. 5: 18 "thankful" heart is thankful for whatever response he/she receives concerning the prayer requests he/she makes, acknowledging such responses as being the will the God.
During such communication, we can make our requests known to God, with the understanding that God's response to such requests are subject to His will, and not ours. There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Every prayer receives an immediate answer of yes, no, or not right now answer from God. Many times, it is the not right now answers that are the most challenging to address.
Accepting the will of God does not mean that we are always going to like what God's will is going to require of us.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not like the rejection, the scourging, the beatings, being spit on, the crown of thorns, having His beard plucked, or the insults He received on the way to the cross, nor did He like the pain and suffering He endured while nailed to the cross. As bad as the physical pain that He experienced was, His greatest pain was spiritual in nature, when God poured the sin debt of the entire world on His sinless Humanity.
Paul did not like the beatings, the whippings, the stoning, the imprisonments, going hungry, thirsty, or the sleepless nights that he endured. Many of 1st Century believers and all the martyrs of the Church Age, did not, and do not like the persecution, the torture, and horrific deaths they endured, having never received the promises (Heb. 11: 39) that other Christians experienced while here on Earth. Yet, like the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22: 42) and Paul (2Cor. 12: 8) who prayed for a different outcome, accepted the answers to such prayer requests as being the will of God.
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross…(Heb. 12: 2 NASB).”
Everything that passes through the hands (control) of God has a divine objective is mind. Coming from the hand of God, we are called to acknowledge it as such (Job 2: 10), and rejoice in it (1Thess. 5: 18/Heb. 12: 2), knowing that there is a divine objective that will be accomplished.
It is during that trials and tribulations that an advancing disciple willingly endure the pain and suffering in order to ultimately hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful slave (Matt. 25: 23 NASB)," and consider it to have been a privilege to have suffered for the cause of Christ (Phil. 1: 29 NASB).
"For you to it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him (and reap the blessings), but also to suffer for Him ...(Phil. 1: 29 NASB italics mine)."
"...they flogged them (the Apostles) and ordered them not speak in the name of Jesus, and the released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, r-e-j-o-y-i-c-i-n-g that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5: 41 NASB italics mine).
"The crowd rose up again together against them (Paul and Silas), and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they through them into prison...and he (the jailer), having received such a command, through them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God...(Acts 16 23- 25 NASB italics mine)."
One can rejoice, praise God, be thankful, and consider it a privilege to suffer when one is spiritual mature enough to see the divine object that God has in mind when He sent or allowed the storms of life to come to one's door.
One of the divine objectives for sending the storms of life is NOT for Him to see how we handle it, as the omniscient (all knowing) God already knows that. Such storms are for US to see how well we are advancing.
There will be some things that the advancing disciple will be called to endure for which there will never be an explanation, at least while on this side of Heaven. God is NOT obligated to explain Himself to anyone. The greater the need for faith, the greater God is glorified.
It takes little faith to accept the good that God sends, but it take strong faith to endure adversity when one can not see the purpose that God has in mind when He send of allows some of things that He does
There is not one advanced disciple that I have ever known personally, that has not been called to continue on in the face of unexplained loss, suffering, tragedy, or intense adversity. There is nothing that infuriates the devil more that to have been allowed to throw his best punch, only to see the man or woman of God, get up, sake off the dirt, and move forward in the plan of God.
Most of suffering that we endure is not of the "suffering for Christ" variety, but is the result of negative decisions that we and/or the people around us have made. Never the less, we can be thankful for such divine discipline, as it is an indication that we are loved by God (Heb. 12: 6), and that everything that He sends or allows it is for our own good (Romans 8: 28). It can also be for the benefit of those who observe it (Acts 5).
Divine discipline (Heb. 12: 6) can range in anything from having to live with a guilty conscience, up to and including physical death. For the most part, I have seen where God simply allows the inevitable results of our own negative decisions to catch up with us. We may not "get caught" or suffer the type of consequences that we fear, but at the end of the day (life), no one gets away with anything.
Only when the suffering we face is the result of having done the right thing can the adversity we face be considered suffering for Christ. We hear many people speak of the "cross" that they have to bear, but this cross is of their own making. The bearing of the cross that Matt. 16: 24 speaks of is the suffering and adversity that comes our way for living the life of a disciple. The life of discipleship involves the studying and applying the Word of God to our daily lives, wherever life takes us in the course of any given day.
Discipleship is initially for our own edification, but with the long term objective of participating in the Great Commission.
One of the ways that one can be thankful for the adversity that is common to all Man, is to learn to see such things from divine viewpoint.
Physical death is an experience that comes to all of us. But for a born again believer, physical death is not a “tragedy,” but a precious moment (Psalms 116: 15) in the eyes of God. For the advanced disciple, his/her departure is something that an advancing disciple looks forward to when it is his/her time to go home and be with the Lord. No advancing disciple wants to leave this world without having first completed all the work that God had in mind for him/her, but neither does he/she care to spend on second longer in the devil's world, once that work is done.
The timing, circumstances, location, and means of departure is not for us to determine, but for the Lord to determine and for us to accept. Such things are as much a part of the plan of God, as was the day of our birth and all that takes place before our time to leave. It is therefore, a part of Thy will being done that many of us have prayed by rote for during the course of much of our lives.
If the truth be known, what many of us really meant to say was, My will be done.
If it were up to us, we would all live what human viewpoint would call long and well, and depart this world under the most comfortable circumstances available. It's a good thing for us that that this was not the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2: 16 NASB)."
The Lord Jesus Christ was between 30-33 years old when He was scourged, beaten beyond human recognition, spit upon, rejected, deserted, and crucified. Tis was not the kind of life or death that a sinless Man deserved, but endured it for an ungrateful world of sinners who do deserve the fires of Hell. From beginning to end, His life was all about doing the will of God the Father for the benefit of others. His life was relatively short, He is described as being a man of sorrows. He departed this world under the worst of forms of execution that that Man could offer. Roman citizens were spared crucifixion, and had the option of being beheaded as act of mercy.
Wherever, whenever, and however the born again believers departs this world as an individual or in a group is the last bridge that we are going to cross in our post salvation spiritual life. When our appointed time comes, God may grant us the peace and comfort that we or those who pray for us request, but that has not been, and will not be, the case for all of us.
For those of us who are called to, one way or another, suffer the most on the way out of this world are the ones who are given the one of the greatest opportunities to leave a powerful message behind, if they are spiritually mature enough to experience and to exhibit to others the type of peace that surpasses all human understanding (Phil. 4: 7). God does send His best soldiers into the toughest spiritual battles.
How one faces death and/or the process of dying speaks volumes about the faith (or lack of faith) that he/she possesses.
Along the way, as an advancing disciple, one will be called to suffer (Phil. 1: 29) for the Lord. Rather or not we will be able as an individual to rejoice and be thankful in times of such suffering for the Lord, is dependent on the level of spiritual maturity one has developed along the way.
It is one thing to accept adversity because our circumstances offer us no other realistic choice., but it is something else to be able to rejoice and be thankful in the midst of it. It is not because of the adversity that one can rejoice, but being aware of what divine objectives are being accomplished.
Advancing disciples do NOT ask why has something happened, but seeks to learn WHAT is it that God has in mind for having sent or allowed the adversity to take place.
Many Christians will pray for God’s will to be done (Matt. 6: 10), but get upset when the manifestation of His will results in something that human viewpoint can only see as negative. They had prayed for Thy will to be done, but what they really meant was for My will be done.
It was Job, a “blameless” man that God allowed to suffer the loss of children, possessions, wealth, social status, and health, who asked the rhetorical question, “…Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity (Job 2: 10 NASB).”
The implied “No!” answer to this rhetorical question teaches that we ARE to accept adversity as well as good that comes from God.
In Job’s case, after enduring more suffering than many of us would ever want to face, Job recovered and received twice the prosperity at the end, than what he had lost (Job 42: 10) along the way.
It is NOT God’s will, however, that every born again believer will live "happily ever-after" while here on Earth. For such believers, their happy ending begins in Heaven, but will last for all of eternity. It is those who were deprived and suffered the most here on Earth that will enjoy the eternal blessings of Heaven the most.
Being happy and thankful when things are gong our way is easy. The challenge that this presentation presents is to develop a level of spiritual maturity so that one can be truly happy and thankful in the midst of great adversity while we are here, and as we depart this Earth.
Born again believers and especially advancing disciples should not need to be reminded of all that we have to be thankful for in the spiritual realm.
Although thanking God is not always the first thing that comes to mind when blessings and prosperity come our way, it is relatively easy to give thanks, be it of the sincere or of the rote variety, during times of blessing rather than in times of adversity.
It is when we can rejoice and be thankful for the adversity that God sends or allows to take place that we have reached a stage of spiritual maturity that we can bring the maximum glory to God. It is the giving of thanks while in the midst of adversity that is the subject of this presentation.
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1Thess. 5: 18 NASB).”
Without a doubt, dealing with and adjusting to the adversity that God sends or allows to take place is one of the greatest obstacles that one must overcome along the road to spiritual maturity. The devil will not miss the opportunity to cast a cloud of doubt that adversity can bring into the environment of a weak believer, and all of us (humanly speaking), have a breaking point. Because of this breaking point, God never intended us for us to identify and/or to execute the post salvation spiritual life with the limitations of human power. In fact, although we can accomplish what appears to be good in the religious realm independently of God, John 15:5 teach that without God in the picture, we can accomplish nothing in the spiritual realm.
It is one’s level of spiritual maturity, measured by one’s knowledge (1Pet. 3: 18) and application (James 1: 22) of the Word of God that determines how much glory one brings to God. Bringing glory to God is the primary purpose for which God created the human race (and each one of us) in the first place. Miss that, and from God's point of view, one has lived his/her life here on Earth in vain (Eccl. 1: 2).
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! ALL is vanity (Eccl. 1: 2 NASB)."
Just how one is to bring glory to God differs from one dispensation (period of history) to another. The dispensation of the Church Age began in the 1st Century AD and will end when what theologians call the Rapture (1Thess. 4: 16, 17) takes place. As long as the Church that God designed remains here on Earth, one can rest assured that the Rapture has NOT yet taken place, and the function, responsibility, and accountability of/for glorifying God remains on the top of the daily "to do" list for Church Age believers.
Christian religion has engineered rituals and practices that began as early as infancy, but the first time that any given soul glorifies God during the dispensation of the Church Age was/ if and when he/she makes a conscious decision to believe in a presentation of the Gospel Message. Once saved, the born again believer is then called to bring further glory to by God by identifying and participating in the post salvation spiritual life of discipleship. Discipleship involves the ongoing and never- ending study and the application of the Word of God. Discipleship begins with one's own edification, but with the long term objective of participating in the Great Commission. It is fulfilling the Great Commission, and not making the devil's world (Luke 4: 6) a better place to live is the work that the Church that God designed was given to do.
The type of world that Scripture (Matt. 24: 22) speaks of, that will be in view when the Second Advent takes place, is hardly one in which good has overcome evil.
"For there will be a great tribulation, such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved' but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short (Matt. 24: 22). The elect refers to souls who are on the Earth and are born again during the Great Tribulation to come.
One can never be any more or any less saved than he/she became at the moment he/she was born again (John 3: 5, 7). However, the level of spiritual maturity that any given born again believer will attain (and his/her ability to bring further glory to God) IS dependent on the amount of 2Peter 3: 18 knowledge he/she secures, and his/her willingness to (James 1: 22) apply to one self, and to teach others. We all are teachers to the extent that each and every day, by what we say and do, we either lead people away from or towards God and the things of God.
Spiritual maturity is germane to our study of thanksgiving, as only when one has reached a relatively high level of spiritual maturity can he/she possess and express an attitude of thanksgiving in the midst of intense adversity.
When such things as disease, serious injury, physical pain, death, emotional suffering, financial or material loss that God sends (or that God allows) to come to our door, that last thing that a weak believer wants to hear is that it was the “will of God.”
Yet, the will of God IS manifested and made evident through everything the He sends or allows to come to our door. Everything includes all of what human viewpoint would see as negative, as well as what human viewpoint would see as positive. It is in the midst of the "negative" side of this everything that separates the rank and file born again believer with his/her limited ability to give thanks, from an advancing disciple who can give thanks in everything (1Thess. 5: 18 NASB)."
The omniscient (all knowing) omnipresence (God is everywhere) and omnipotence (all powerful) knows of everything that has taken place; is taking place; and that will take place everywhere, and does have the ability to intervene. Accordingly, everything that comes to our door has already passed first pass through the all knowing, all powerful, everywhere present, hands of God.
Communication is an essential part of any meaningful relationship. Prayer is the primary means through which we speak to God. In Phil 4: 6, we are instructed to make our prayer requests known with a thankful heart. A Thess. 5: 18 "thankful" heart is thankful for whatever response he/she receives concerning the prayer requests he/she makes, acknowledging such responses as being the will the God.
During such communication, we can make our requests known to God, with the understanding that God's response to such requests are subject to His will, and not ours. There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. Every prayer receives an immediate answer of yes, no, or not right now answer from God. Many times, it is the not right now answers that are the most challenging to address.
Accepting the will of God does not mean that we are always going to like what God's will is going to require of us.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not like the rejection, the scourging, the beatings, being spit on, the crown of thorns, having His beard plucked, or the insults He received on the way to the cross, nor did He like the pain and suffering He endured while nailed to the cross. As bad as the physical pain that He experienced was, His greatest pain was spiritual in nature, when God poured the sin debt of the entire world on His sinless Humanity.
Paul did not like the beatings, the whippings, the stoning, the imprisonments, going hungry, thirsty, or the sleepless nights that he endured. Many of 1st Century believers and all the martyrs of the Church Age, did not, and do not like the persecution, the torture, and horrific deaths they endured, having never received the promises (Heb. 11: 39) that other Christians experienced while here on Earth. Yet, like the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22: 42) and Paul (2Cor. 12: 8) who prayed for a different outcome, accepted the answers to such prayer requests as being the will of God.
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross…(Heb. 12: 2 NASB).”
Everything that passes through the hands (control) of God has a divine objective is mind. Coming from the hand of God, we are called to acknowledge it as such (Job 2: 10), and rejoice in it (1Thess. 5: 18/Heb. 12: 2), knowing that there is a divine objective that will be accomplished.
It is during that trials and tribulations that an advancing disciple willingly endure the pain and suffering in order to ultimately hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful slave (Matt. 25: 23 NASB)," and consider it to have been a privilege to have suffered for the cause of Christ (Phil. 1: 29 NASB).
"For you to it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him (and reap the blessings), but also to suffer for Him ...(Phil. 1: 29 NASB italics mine)."
"...they flogged them (the Apostles) and ordered them not speak in the name of Jesus, and the released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, r-e-j-o-y-i-c-i-n-g that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5: 41 NASB italics mine).
"The crowd rose up again together against them (Paul and Silas), and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they through them into prison...and he (the jailer), having received such a command, through them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God...(Acts 16 23- 25 NASB italics mine)."
One can rejoice, praise God, be thankful, and consider it a privilege to suffer when one is spiritual mature enough to see the divine object that God has in mind when He sent or allowed the storms of life to come to one's door.
One of the divine objectives for sending the storms of life is NOT for Him to see how we handle it, as the omniscient (all knowing) God already knows that. Such storms are for US to see how well we are advancing.
There will be some things that the advancing disciple will be called to endure for which there will never be an explanation, at least while on this side of Heaven. God is NOT obligated to explain Himself to anyone. The greater the need for faith, the greater God is glorified.
It takes little faith to accept the good that God sends, but it take strong faith to endure adversity when one can not see the purpose that God has in mind when He send of allows some of things that He does
There is not one advanced disciple that I have ever known personally, that has not been called to continue on in the face of unexplained loss, suffering, tragedy, or intense adversity. There is nothing that infuriates the devil more that to have been allowed to throw his best punch, only to see the man or woman of God, get up, sake off the dirt, and move forward in the plan of God.
Most of suffering that we endure is not of the "suffering for Christ" variety, but is the result of negative decisions that we and/or the people around us have made. Never the less, we can be thankful for such divine discipline, as it is an indication that we are loved by God (Heb. 12: 6), and that everything that He sends or allows it is for our own good (Romans 8: 28). It can also be for the benefit of those who observe it (Acts 5).
Divine discipline (Heb. 12: 6) can range in anything from having to live with a guilty conscience, up to and including physical death. For the most part, I have seen where God simply allows the inevitable results of our own negative decisions to catch up with us. We may not "get caught" or suffer the type of consequences that we fear, but at the end of the day (life), no one gets away with anything.
Only when the suffering we face is the result of having done the right thing can the adversity we face be considered suffering for Christ. We hear many people speak of the "cross" that they have to bear, but this cross is of their own making. The bearing of the cross that Matt. 16: 24 speaks of is the suffering and adversity that comes our way for living the life of a disciple. The life of discipleship involves the studying and applying the Word of God to our daily lives, wherever life takes us in the course of any given day.
Discipleship is initially for our own edification, but with the long term objective of participating in the Great Commission.
One of the ways that one can be thankful for the adversity that is common to all Man, is to learn to see such things from divine viewpoint.
Physical death is an experience that comes to all of us. But for a born again believer, physical death is not a “tragedy,” but a precious moment (Psalms 116: 15) in the eyes of God. For the advanced disciple, his/her departure is something that an advancing disciple looks forward to when it is his/her time to go home and be with the Lord. No advancing disciple wants to leave this world without having first completed all the work that God had in mind for him/her, but neither does he/she care to spend on second longer in the devil's world, once that work is done.
The timing, circumstances, location, and means of departure is not for us to determine, but for the Lord to determine and for us to accept. Such things are as much a part of the plan of God, as was the day of our birth and all that takes place before our time to leave. It is therefore, a part of Thy will being done that many of us have prayed by rote for during the course of much of our lives.
If the truth be known, what many of us really meant to say was, My will be done.
If it were up to us, we would all live what human viewpoint would call long and well, and depart this world under the most comfortable circumstances available. It's a good thing for us that that this was not the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2: 16 NASB)."
The Lord Jesus Christ was between 30-33 years old when He was scourged, beaten beyond human recognition, spit upon, rejected, deserted, and crucified. Tis was not the kind of life or death that a sinless Man deserved, but endured it for an ungrateful world of sinners who do deserve the fires of Hell. From beginning to end, His life was all about doing the will of God the Father for the benefit of others. His life was relatively short, He is described as being a man of sorrows. He departed this world under the worst of forms of execution that that Man could offer. Roman citizens were spared crucifixion, and had the option of being beheaded as act of mercy.
Wherever, whenever, and however the born again believers departs this world as an individual or in a group is the last bridge that we are going to cross in our post salvation spiritual life. When our appointed time comes, God may grant us the peace and comfort that we or those who pray for us request, but that has not been, and will not be, the case for all of us.
For those of us who are called to, one way or another, suffer the most on the way out of this world are the ones who are given the one of the greatest opportunities to leave a powerful message behind, if they are spiritually mature enough to experience and to exhibit to others the type of peace that surpasses all human understanding (Phil. 4: 7). God does send His best soldiers into the toughest spiritual battles.
How one faces death and/or the process of dying speaks volumes about the faith (or lack of faith) that he/she possesses.
Along the way, as an advancing disciple, one will be called to suffer (Phil. 1: 29) for the Lord. Rather or not we will be able as an individual to rejoice and be thankful in times of such suffering for the Lord, is dependent on the level of spiritual maturity one has developed along the way.
It is one thing to accept adversity because our circumstances offer us no other realistic choice., but it is something else to be able to rejoice and be thankful in the midst of it. It is not because of the adversity that one can rejoice, but being aware of what divine objectives are being accomplished.
Advancing disciples do NOT ask why has something happened, but seeks to learn WHAT is it that God has in mind for having sent or allowed the adversity to take place.
Many Christians will pray for God’s will to be done (Matt. 6: 10), but get upset when the manifestation of His will results in something that human viewpoint can only see as negative. They had prayed for Thy will to be done, but what they really meant was for My will be done.
It was Job, a “blameless” man that God allowed to suffer the loss of children, possessions, wealth, social status, and health, who asked the rhetorical question, “…Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity (Job 2: 10 NASB).”
The implied “No!” answer to this rhetorical question teaches that we ARE to accept adversity as well as good that comes from God.
In Job’s case, after enduring more suffering than many of us would ever want to face, Job recovered and received twice the prosperity at the end, than what he had lost (Job 42: 10) along the way.
It is NOT God’s will, however, that every born again believer will live "happily ever-after" while here on Earth. For such believers, their happy ending begins in Heaven, but will last for all of eternity. It is those who were deprived and suffered the most here on Earth that will enjoy the eternal blessings of Heaven the most.
Being happy and thankful when things are gong our way is easy. The challenge that this presentation presents is to develop a level of spiritual maturity so that one can be truly happy and thankful in the midst of great adversity while we are here, and as we depart this Earth.