FAITHFUL IN TRIALS – PART 1

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is He turned; He turneth His hand against me all the day. My flesh and my skin hath He made old: He hath broken my bones. He hath buildeth against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: He hath made my chain heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: He hath made me desolate. He hath bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my reins. I was derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness; He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; He hath covered me with ashes. And Thou Hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity. And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from Adonai: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have, I hope. It is of Adonai’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. Adonai is my portion, saith my soul; therefore, will I hope in Him. Adonai is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Adonai. -- Lamentations 3:1-26.

When Helen Keller was only 18 months old, she lost her sight and hearing because of a severe illness. Until the age of six, she was the selfish centre of the Keller household and everything sympathetically revolved around her. Then Anne Sullivan, a 21-year-old graduate of the Perkins Institution for the Blind, arrived in Tuscumbia. Anne was there to open up Helen's world. But the trials Helen put her teacher through are legendary, the wrestling matches over the utensils Helen refused to use; the tug-of-war battles between Anne and the Keller family over Helen's welfare and the sneaking attacks from the fighting, biting and unmanageable Helen. But Anne's patience and faithfulness to Helen paid off. Not only did Anne give Helen the gift of language, but she accompanied Helen throughout her entire education, including an exemplary college program in which Anne would read books [into Helen's hand] on many late nights so Helen's course work would not be hindered. Helen Keller became an ambassador for the blind, the deaf and a monument to the heights a human can reach. In her second autobiography Helen wrote that Anne [was a delightful companion, entering into all my discoveries with the joy of a fellow explorer. Above all she loved me; by the vitalizing power of her friendship, she has stirred and enlarged my faculties. The book's dedication reads simply: [To Anne Sullivan, whose love is the story of my life.] Anne Sullivan was faithful to Helen Keller through trials, around obstacles and over mountains that would have stopped Helen's successful pilgrimage through life. YHVH, in an even much greater way than Anne Sullivan, wants to be our faithful Father through all of our trials. In fact, the Bible plainly shows how YHVH, the Faithful One, is always there for His children, even in the midst of great trials and suffering. By examining the causes of our trials and the choices we can make regarding them, we need to to learn how YHVH will remain our Faithful Elohiym, even in the worst of times.

1 – The Causes of our Trials:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers’ temptations. -- James 1:2. James rightly assumes that all of us will experience trials in our lives. But what kind of things would constitute a trial for us?

A -- Grief:
A young minister went to call on the widow of an eccentric man who had just died. Standing before the open casket and trying to console the widow, he said: I know this must be a very hard blow, Mrs. Vernon. But we must remember that what we see here is the husk only, the shell; the nut has gone to heaven. The truth of the matter is that when we lose a loved one, we find ourselves facing a trial of grief. Naomi had lost her husband and both of her sons in a very short period of time. The Bible quotes her as saying, Do not call me Naomi: she told them. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but Adonai has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? Adonai has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. Naomi = pleasant; Mara = bitter. She was suffering through the very real trial of grief. Many of you have known that trial through the loss of a husband, wife or a child.

B -- Stress:
In Numbers 11 we read about Moses; he is stressed out from trying to lead the nation of Israel, he did not know where to find food for them, how to take care of their needs. He was so stressed out that He said to YHVH: If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now, if I have found favour in your eyes and do not let me face my own ruin. Some of us face that same trial of stress at work or perhaps in our own homes. It is a very real problem that has come into our lives and we are not sure how to deal with it.

C -- Disaster:
Remember Job? He had everything taken away from him, he and his family were totally destroyed and he faced a very real trial. Some of our fellow believers have faced the disaster of floods, tornados and hurricanes in the recent past and they know the trial that this can bring into a life.

D -- Fear:
In 2 Corinthians 1:8 Paul was telling the Corinthians about the suffering they had endured and he tells them: For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. There was a very real fear present. Most of our fears are fears of the future, of something we will have to face in the coming days and we find ourselves in the midst of a trial.

E -- Frustration:
Are you ever frustrated? Sometimes our frustrations are no big deal, but sometimes they are very serious. Paul was telling the Corinthians about his thorn in the flesh and he shared that, three times I pleaded with Adonai to take it away from me. It was a frustration, not knowing or understanding why Adonai would continue to allow him to suffer.

G -- Oppression:
In Psalm 42:9 the psalmist asks YHVH the question: I will say unto YHVH my Rock, why hast Thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Sometimes we feel the same way; we have people in our jobs, homes, neighbourhoods or our schools oppressing us, opposing us and we do not know what to do about it.

H -- Sickness:
Someone once said: No one is sicker than a man who is sick on his day off or a child on a day when there is no school. When we talk about the trial of sickness, we are not talking about having a cold or the flu; we are talking about those who have to deal with prolonged health problems. In Isaiah, King Hezekiah writes of his illness and he asks: I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. -- Isaiah 38:10. Many of you know the trial of sickness first-hand, you know how debilitating and depressing it can be. So those are some of the causes of our trials and as James says, we are all going to face one or more of these or perhaps some I have not mentioned. What we need to concentrate on now is: