ONE BLOW AFTER THE NEXT
APRIL 2013
Lisa Maki
There I was, barely recovering from a severe trial ... trying to regain my strength ... hoping and praying that it is finally over. Then another one comes along ... more severe than the other one.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been in this “one blow after the next” situation. All I know is that it is not something I want to go through. Yet God allows me to go through it every now and then. Why? This is what this article aims to explain.
All the great men and women in the Bible went through this “one blow after the next” kind of trial. Moses had to go through it with Pharaoh, before he and his people were finally able to escape from the evil hands of the Egyptians. As if that was not enough, he went through one trial after the next dealing with a stubborn people who kept disobeying God. And what about David? After the devil entered Saul, he ran from place to place, hiding from the king who wanted to kill him. The prophets’ (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, etc.) ordeals were never over. They went from one trial after the next. What about the most tested one of all – Job? He lost all his children in one day, lost everything he had, was stricken with the worst kind of skin disease, and his friends blamed him for his predicament. Talk about one blow after then next.
I believe that God allows this to happen for two major reasons: to test our faith, and to strengthen us.
Honestly, it is easy to say that we trust in God when everything is doing well. It is during trials that we tend to question Him and even lose steam for what He has called us to do. But then when the trials are over, we also bounce back, at least for the most part. However, when the trial is one after the next, then no matter how we want to continue trusting in Him, we reach a point of exhaustion. This is exactly what happened to Job. He continued to praise God in the midst of his trials, but after one severe attack after the other, he finally caved in.
But then you may ask: Why does God have to test our faith? He tests our faith so we will also be able to assess ourselves as to how far we really trust Him.
I don’t know about you but each time I feel good about myself or what I am doing, God tests me, and then I am reminded that I can’t do anything on my own. This brings me back to total reliance on God.
We get easily complacent about ourselves and our situations. This is our human nature. When times are hard we cry out to God for help, but when we finally get the help we need, we get so comfortable and become lax with our relationship with God. This is why God gives us a shock treatment every now and then. It is a constant reminder that without Him we are nothing.
When Job was going through it, he began to lay down every good thing he has done. He couldn’t understand why a good and righteous man like him can be punished like that. In the end, God spoke and challenged Job. God also laid down who He is and that’s when Job realized that he was nothing compared to God.
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. This means that the stretching of our faith will make us more pleasing to God. And our trials, more so that kind of trial that comes one after the other, is meant to increase our faith in God.
It is true that some people crumble and lose their faith in the midst of crisis. Well, this just proves that their faith was not strong in the first place. Trials are pretty exposing. It will strengthen those who are already strong, and break those who are weak.
I have submitted to, resisted, and submitted to again to God’s trials and discipline. I am sure you know what I am talking about. You cry, and then you understand, and then you cry again, and then you get tired crying so you just surrender. This is what God is after – our surrender. It doesn’t matter if we resist and fight at the start for as long as in the end, we give in to God.
One last thing I want you to remember about the “one blow after the next” kind of trials. Know that God is confident in you – that you will not give up ... that you will continue to trust in Him ... that you will overcome. This was the kind of confidence he had for Job which was why He permitted the devil to try him.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been in this “one blow after the next” situation. All I know is that it is not something I want to go through. Yet God allows me to go through it every now and then. Why? This is what this article aims to explain.
All the great men and women in the Bible went through this “one blow after the next” kind of trial. Moses had to go through it with Pharaoh, before he and his people were finally able to escape from the evil hands of the Egyptians. As if that was not enough, he went through one trial after the next dealing with a stubborn people who kept disobeying God. And what about David? After the devil entered Saul, he ran from place to place, hiding from the king who wanted to kill him. The prophets’ (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, etc.) ordeals were never over. They went from one trial after the next. What about the most tested one of all – Job? He lost all his children in one day, lost everything he had, was stricken with the worst kind of skin disease, and his friends blamed him for his predicament. Talk about one blow after then next.
I believe that God allows this to happen for two major reasons: to test our faith, and to strengthen us.
Honestly, it is easy to say that we trust in God when everything is doing well. It is during trials that we tend to question Him and even lose steam for what He has called us to do. But then when the trials are over, we also bounce back, at least for the most part. However, when the trial is one after the next, then no matter how we want to continue trusting in Him, we reach a point of exhaustion. This is exactly what happened to Job. He continued to praise God in the midst of his trials, but after one severe attack after the other, he finally caved in.
But then you may ask: Why does God have to test our faith? He tests our faith so we will also be able to assess ourselves as to how far we really trust Him.
I don’t know about you but each time I feel good about myself or what I am doing, God tests me, and then I am reminded that I can’t do anything on my own. This brings me back to total reliance on God.
We get easily complacent about ourselves and our situations. This is our human nature. When times are hard we cry out to God for help, but when we finally get the help we need, we get so comfortable and become lax with our relationship with God. This is why God gives us a shock treatment every now and then. It is a constant reminder that without Him we are nothing.
When Job was going through it, he began to lay down every good thing he has done. He couldn’t understand why a good and righteous man like him can be punished like that. In the end, God spoke and challenged Job. God also laid down who He is and that’s when Job realized that he was nothing compared to God.
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. This means that the stretching of our faith will make us more pleasing to God. And our trials, more so that kind of trial that comes one after the other, is meant to increase our faith in God.
It is true that some people crumble and lose their faith in the midst of crisis. Well, this just proves that their faith was not strong in the first place. Trials are pretty exposing. It will strengthen those who are already strong, and break those who are weak.
I have submitted to, resisted, and submitted to again to God’s trials and discipline. I am sure you know what I am talking about. You cry, and then you understand, and then you cry again, and then you get tired crying so you just surrender. This is what God is after – our surrender. It doesn’t matter if we resist and fight at the start for as long as in the end, we give in to God.
One last thing I want you to remember about the “one blow after the next” kind of trials. Know that God is confident in you – that you will not give up ... that you will continue to trust in Him ... that you will overcome. This was the kind of confidence he had for Job which was why He permitted the devil to try him.
So the next time you go through something like this, just say, “Thank you God for your great confidence in me. I may not understand what is going on but I know you permitted it to come to me. Please see me through”.
Lisa Maki is the founder, publisher, and editor of God'z Gurlz. More about Lisa at ...
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