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(The purpose of these pages is to provide Biblical help for times of fiery
trials, tribulations, adversity, testing, trouble, and difficulty.)
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<FONT size=+1><A href="CDS.html">(This information is now available on audio
CD!)</A></FONT> <BR>
<B><FONT color="#000080"><FONT size=+4>Why is This Happening to
Me?</FONT></FONT></B>
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<B><I><FONT color="#000080"><FONT size=+2>(The Purposes of
Adversity)</FONT></FONT></I></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1>When we are going through the fire, one of the first things
that comes to our mind is the question, "Why is this happening to me?" Often
the answers to this question are not obvious. But there are answers.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>Here are some thoughts along with Scriptures that might shed
some light on the purposes of the affliction you might be going through
now.</FONT>
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<A NAME="draw near"></A><B><FONT color="#8000FF"><FONT size=+3>God May be
Using The Affliction to Cause Us to Draw Near to Him</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1>When life is going smoothly, most of us have a tendency to
give God very little attention. When adversity strikes, then we tend to cry
out to God for help! David experienced this phenomenon and wrote about one
third of the Psalms crying out to God in times of adversity. (By the way,
many of these Psalms will give voice to your own cries during times of
adversity.) <I>Reading the Psalms aloud can be of enormous help during fiery
trials.</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>You will frequently find words like these in the Psalms.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in
You; do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me.."
</B><I>(Psalm 25:1-2)</I></FONT>
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<FONT size=+1><B>"Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious
to me and answer me. When Thou didst say, "Seek My face," my heart said to
Thee, "Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek." </B><I>(Psalm 27:7-8)</I></FONT>
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<A NAME="discipline"></A><B><FONT color="#0000FF"><FONT size=+3>Sometimes
Affliction is a Form of Loving Discipline</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every
son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with
sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten?...For truly they
[our earthly fathers] chastened us for a few days according to their own
pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
Now chastening for the present does not seem to be joyous, but grievous.
Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to
those who are exercised by it." </B><I>(Hebrews 12:6-7, 10-11)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>Sometimes affliction is a form of discipline used by God to
keep us "usable." For example, affliction may be a wonderful cure for
pride.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is
opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." </B><I>(James
4:6)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>Affliction in the form of discipline will remind us (and others
around us) of our inherent weakness. God likes to choose weak vessels to
accomplish His purposes in order that it might be obvious to all that He
is the One Who is doing the work!</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults,
with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake;
for when I am weak, then I am strong."</B> <I>(2 Corinthians
12:10)</I></FONT>
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<FONT size=+1><B>"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not
many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things
that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should
boast before God."</B> <I>(1 Corinthians 1:26-29)</I></FONT>
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<A NAME="sin"></A><B><FONT color="#8000FF"><FONT size=+3>Sometimes Affliction
is a Natural Consequence of Our Sin</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man
sows, this he will also reap." </B><I>(Galatians 6:7)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>We live in a society that tries very hard to gloss over the
consequences of sin. Often advertising, television, and movies seem to teach
that sin is no big deal, that it is fun, and that it has no serious consequences!
How sad when some people begin to believe that lie!</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>But when sin leads to the pain that inevitably comes, we begin
to see through the lie, and learn to hate sin.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>Here are a couple of examples. Many more could be given.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment
with a promise), that it may be well with you." </B><I>(Ephesians
6:2-3)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>If things are not going well with us, it may be because we
have not given honor to our parents.</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there
may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a
blessing until it overflows.Then I will rebuke the devourer for you..."
</B><I>(Malachi 3:10-11)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>If it seems that the "devourer" is loose in our lives, it may
be because we have been keeping God's tithe for ourselves!</FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>It may help to think of these consequences as spiritual pain
signals that may help us avoid worse things. Our physical bodies provide
an analogy at this point.Our bodies are made with nerve endings all over.
When our bodies are being damaged, these nerves send pain signals to get
our attention. If we did not experience the pain, our bodies would soon be
maimed, crippled, and dead! We don't enjoy pain, but it keeps us from
destruction!</FONT>
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<A NAME="adversary"></A><B><FONT color="#8000FF"><FONT size=+3>Sometimes
Adversity Simply Means That Our Adversary is at Work</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the
devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist
him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are
being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world." </B><I>(1 Peter
5:8-9)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>Part of our preparation for eternity is to learn how to engage
in <A href="warfare-fs.html" TARGET="_top">spiritual warfare</A>. We have
an "adversary" who is capable of causing us adversity! The Bible contains
information that we need in order to carry on the battle effectively.</FONT>
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<A NAME="eternity"></A><B><FONT color="#8000FF"><FONT size=+3>Afflictions
May Serve to Prepare Us for Our Responsibilities in
Eternity</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have
counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things
to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish
in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a
righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith
in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings,being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead." </B><I>(Philippians 3:7-11)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with
Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
</B><I>(Revelation 3:21)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>You may remember hearing the story of a man who saw a moth
struggling to get free from it's cocoon. The man had pity on the moth and
it's terrible struggle, so he carefully cut the cocoon to allow the moth
to come out more easily. The moth was free, but could not fly. He learned,
too late, that in order to develop the ability to fly, the moth had to struggle
with it's wings to overcome the constraints of the cocoon. <I>No struggle,
no flight!</I></FONT>
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<A NAME="comfort"></A><B><FONT color="#8000FF"><FONT size=+3>God May Use
Your Affliction to Prepare You to Help Others Later</FONT></FONT></B>
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<P>
<FONT size=+1><B>"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of merciesand God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our
affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as
the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant
through Christ." </B><I>(2 Corinthians 1:3-5)</I></FONT>
<P>
<FONT size=+1>It's pretty powerful when a friend sits down with us in our
time of adversity and says, in effect, "I know what you are going through.
I've been right where you are. Here's how God brought me through it. I'm
sure He'll bring you through it too."</FONT>
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<TABLE BORDER CELLPADDING=2 >
<TR>
<TD><I><FONT size=-2>"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall
lie,</FONT></I> <BR>
<I><FONT size=-2>My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply:</FONT></I>
<BR>
<I><FONT size=-2>The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design</FONT></I>
<BR>
<I><FONT size=-2>Thy dross to consume and thy gold to
refine</FONT></I><FONT size=+1>"</FONT>
<DIV align=right>
<I><FONT size=+1>(John Rippon)</FONT></I>
</DIV>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
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<P>
Steve Hall <BR>
1997 <BR>
<A href="mailto:steve@aboundingjoy.com">steve@aboundingjoy.com</A>
<P>
<FONT size=-2>© 2000 Steve Hall. Permission is hereby granted to quote
from these web pages, in part or in full, as long as the following statement
is included: "© 2000 Steve Hall (steve@aboundingjoy.com). Quoted by
Permission."</FONT>
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