In June 1996, I finally made the decision to repent of my sinfulness and ask Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life. I no longer followed the world but followed Jesus wholeheartedly. I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead to eternal life (Romans 10:9-11). It was a struggle, I confess, to turn away from the worldliness I had grown accustomed to, yet the power of the Holy Spirit enabled me to change. I delved into the christian life with gusto. Then three years into my walk with the Lord, the trial came...and it was HUGE. I had NEVER EVER imagined that I would have experienced what faced me at that moment. The pain was so intense that I could not eat nor sleep well. Oh, but I prayed. I prayed and fasted. I sought God night and day. I was on my face. I was in the Word. I heard from God during this period. Psalm 37:18 says that, “God is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God was so close to me. So, in the midst of my pain, I looked around and noticed that those who were not serving Him-who were not committed to Him-seemed to be thriving. Oh, and that hurt even more. One night as I lay in my bed, I asked Him, 'Why? Why do those who don't serve you prosper?' And He answered me, through Jeremiah 12:1-5:
“You are always righteous, O LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with You about Your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Jeremiah 12:1
You see, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet of the Lord from his youth. The Lord even said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4. Yet because of the call of God on his life, Jeremiah faced much persecution. He spoke against the worldliness of Israel, warning them to turn back to God or face impending disaster. As a result he was ridiculed and ostracized. He suffered, and so he asked, 'why'.
The Lord responded to Jeremiah (and to me as I read):
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5. Then suddenly, the Holy Spirit brought understanding to my heart. The Lord was training me, preparing me and teaching me how to stand in the midst of the battle. It is in midst of the trial- in our weakness- that we are able to see the Mighty Hand of GOD raised so high above our circumstances that the threat of the valley of the shadow of death fades by the brilliance of His glorious light. It is in the trial that our faith increases and God reveals Himself to us in a new way. If we wait upon Him, if we trust in Him, if we do not allow bitterness and envy to overtake us, we will see His victory. And we are reminded:
"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him." Psalm 37:1-7
Have you ever experienced injustice at the hands of those who do not fear God? What happened and how has trusting in Him helped you with your faith? Share with us at BGO by clicking on the comments link below. Your testimony not only gives God glory but will encourage someone who may be experiencing a similar trial.
5 comments:
What a timely word! Thank you. As trials can at times feel overwhelming we need to know that God's plan is always only to prosper us and not to harm us (Jermeiah 29:11) and He works all things together for our good.
Timely indeed!I did ask myself the very same question this week. Thank you for sharing, Natasha. I do recall having an earth-shattering experience, in the negative sense, in the months leading up to my baptism. To make it worse, the main offender was a renowned christian. An experience like this can break one's morale, and even cause an individual to turn away from the church, from christianity and from God. However, my newfound relationship with God, and my support network of christian mentors and friends helped me to overcome this setback. The christian walk has not been easy for me at times.I have felt frustrated, depressed and even angry with myself when I observe the carefree attitudes of persons with different morales. I usually say to myself,"Here am I, trying, no struggling, to do what is right by God's standards, and look at him/her without a care in the world. It's not fair." But you know what, I have come to realize that the so-called prosperity and joy I observe in others is: 1) my own perception of their state of mind, and 2)a mask for their feelings of emptiness, which they experience quite frequently.
I firmly believe and I have witnessed the peace and joy that believers experience, even in the midst of trials. Unbelievers do not experience these sentiments, and are usually baffled when believers turn a blind eye, or the other cheek, so to speak, when treated unfairly. I have witnessed this firsthand, and I dare say that any believer who reflects on this can identify with similar experiences. As a case in point, I am going through a trial right now, but to some people, my attitude towards it is a bit surreal. The reason? I am not worried because I know that my God is in full control. When the time is right, I do hope to testify on BibleGroup Online. In the meantime, Be Blessed Friends, and Prosper!
We were talking about the verse "The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it" last Sunday at church and how it seems unfair that the ungodly prosper in their businesses. The verse tells us that the blessing of the Lord to His children is different and sets them apart from others. God's blessing doesn't leave us in any need. God's blessing adds no trouble and the word trouble in the original language is "sorrow". So we can have much less than those who are away from God but with God's approval we are much happier.
We must remember that our true treasure is in heaven and the "prosperity" of the wicked will not last forever
This is a word in season. On Sunday, after reading a posting, I couldn't help but think on this very subject. Note here I said Sunday, right after a good praise, worship and the Word service. This struck me like a ton of bricks, that it appears as if those who don't know the Lord are doing better then 'me.' I know this is wrong thinking but I dwelt on it and took it to the level of feeling sorry for myself. But God is faithful and thank you Natasha and Andrew for your faithfulness to him. This is good!!
You know, I have been personally meditating on this word for quite some time now: "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:2-3). If we could only see our situation in the span of eternity-in the realm of God's promises and plans-so much of this 'injustice' would be easier to take. I guess that is why we are instructed to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Lord Jesus, help us to cling to Your words of life, Your promises and to walk by faith. Help us to pray for our enemies and for the lost who refuse you. Put eternity in our hearts. Help us to be obedient in all that we do. Holy Spirit raise us up to be prayer warriors, crying out on behalf of the lost, wounded and hurt. Please help us when injustice is wrought against us. Help us not to feel bitter and envious, angry and betrayed. Jesus, help us to be holy as you are holy. In Jesus Name I make this prayer, Amen.
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