Personally, I would much rather go around them. Wouldn’t we all? But then there is this thing called ‘life’. Every where I turn lately, there seems to be . . . ‘life’. There is good, but bad just seems to not be willing to let go – to not get out of the way.
Paul’s comment to the believers in Antioch struck me. Not just that we must go ‘through’ hardships, but that we must go through them ‘to enter the kingdom of God’. I like the part of God’s kingdom that is free of hardships. They are like front door blessings – blessings that everybody sees and associates as ‘God’s blessings’. But Paul is talking about another kind of blessing – another part of the kingdom of God that is not seen. They are more like ‘back door’ blessings.
These blessings and part of the kingdom of God are found when we, with the help of God, go through our hardships. It is like a trailer I was pulling one time. One of the 4 wheels was a little too low on grease and burned up. The wheel was still there – it endured the haul – but the hub was burned out. The other 3, with the right amount of grease, didn’t even get warm.
It is possible in our hardships to enter the kingdom of God and relatively speaking, not even get warm. (Well maybe a little) But that is what Paul is referring to; and in chapter 16 he demonstrates it. Amidst all the good that happened in the chapter, he also experiences the bad of being thrown in prison. He was put in the inner cell and his feet were fastened with stocks. (Hardships are like that; they can lock you up.)
But through prayer, Paul entered the kingdom of God. Before his hub got hot he added the grease of prayer. He wrestled with God until he gained God’s perspective. Once he did, he was able to sing. Afterwards, the doors and chains that locked him up opened and fell off.
The Lord may not always cause the doors and chains of our lives to open and fall off as He did with Paul; but, at a minimum, He can keep our hub from burning up. As I am learning about most things lately, it is not just all or none; we can enter a little, or a little more, or a lot. We can keep from burning up. We can keep from getting warm. In some cases . . . we can enter enough to sing.
Hunger and Thirst 
Mike, you have such a gift, a ministry to reach out to those going through the storms, the hardships. I want to enter in singing. Thank you for showing us that it is possible, with Him.
One summer as I was struggling with my “hardship”, traveling in the wee hours of the morning to my mom’s in MO with my 2 girls, I was crying out to God. Feeling so shackled. Did He see? Did He know? Or was I just nuts. Then the headlights shone on a sign beside the road. A sign from God. It said, “All things are possible.” – God. Boy, that turned me around and got me looking for Him more and more in my hardship. Singing too. I looked for that sign on my way back home and on subsequent trips to mom’s, but never saw it again. 🙂
God bless you and yours, Mike, and bring you in singing.
deb
Speaking of gifts, you have the much needed gift of encouragement. I couldn’t begin to reply with as many encouraging notes as I have read of yours, not only to me but to the many others who reply to your posts. I was especially encouraged by this one. I wrestled with whether or not to even post it. I wrote it a few weeks ago as it looked like we might be seeing the end to at least a major part of the trial that has helped to produce so many writings on the subject. It was almost like God’s final point to it all. And having moved on, I was partly ready to move on in my posts as well. But . . . each time I read it, there was the sense that I should not omit it. I am especially glad now that I didn’t. Thanks for the note.
Mike,
It is refreshing to read this post. Hardships, trials, struggles, etc, all seem to be deemed as some attack from the enemy, and most Christians knee-jerk this as their immediate response.
I, however, find it most fruitful to first consider, “What is it You are showing me, Father?”, instead of, “Why are you allowing the devil to torment me, Father!?” It takes a certain amount of spiritual maturity to adopt such a stance, and I hope others will consider it for their own walks with Christ.
Does the enemy cause trouble in our lives? For sure. But we also walk and live under the eternal aegis of God our Father, and we should remember that He allowed Job to fall into the hands of the enemy. His ways are surely not our ways and who can know the mind of God? The outside reader may look at Job and think that God was being some infantile and childish God, but the story ends rather well and has the richness of His Sovereignty woven throughout it. Again, spiritual maturity rules the day.
God is not some cruel taskmaster, not at all. He brings disaster and blessing, all for His glory. Paul, of all people, understood this deeply. I mean, the conversion on the road to Damascus was pretty harsh, really. Paul had no choice in the matter; Jesus came to him to tell him, “Hey. You’re Mine now. Deal with it and let’s go.” We tend to dismiss this of God when we seek to make Salvation about us and our choices, and put aside the Sovereignty of our God.
Loved this post, Mike. Good food for the spirit!
Donald in Bethel, CT
This was a good message, Mike. Jesus said that if we were to be his disciple, we WOULD suffer. Most don’t want to think about that part but actually, it is the suffering that brings us to the heart of Christ. The Apostle Paul understood that all of his sufferings had a purpose designed by God for his good. To be transformed into the image of Christ takes the death of self. All that we must endure for Christ has a divine reason that one day we will understand. There is a cost to following Jesus. That cost is well worth it!