Tag: life’s storms

Can the Right Perspective Make Us Bold Against Tragedies?

Can the Right Perspective Make Us Bold Against Tragedies?

When tragedies come into our lives it is hard to stand up or to move. Despair, anxiety, and fear paralyze our hearts. It is hard to see beyond the tragedy. That seemed to be the case with the apostles that day. All but John were far away as they stood beneath the cross when Jesus died. There stood John, Mary and 3 other women. What next? How would they bury Jesus? Did they even have time to think of that? They were certainly not people of financial means. The body of those that died on the cross were usually thrown into one large common grave.

vision

Out of the crowds came one unexpected disciple that boldly went before Pilate to request the body. That was Joseph of Arimathea. We do not know a lot about Joseph of Arimathea; but, we do know that he was a rich man. We also know that he was a member of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish legislation). We are told by John that he had been “secret about his discipleship” out of fear. Yet, he boldly stepped forward to request the body so that he could place the body of Jesus in a “tomb that had never been used.” All of this was very important to later prove the resurrection of Jesus. All had been meticulously orchestrated by God. So what in the midst of this tragedy caused Joseph of Arimathea to be so bold and Nicodemus to join him? The keys to his boldness is the same keys that we might hold fast to when tragedy hits our own lives. I want to share with you the four keys I found in scripture that explains his boldness and faith at that moment. The same 4 keys that can help you and I when tragedies come as well.

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6 Reasons Why Suffering In the Life of Believers

6 Reasons Why Suffering In the Life of Believers

Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries or questions that we as believers face is why is there still so much suffering?  Didn’t Christ say “come unto me and I will give you rest”?  (Matthew 11: 28)  Didn’t God promise that “3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” Psalm 147?   Yet, Paul wrote concerning the Christian that   “8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4). So, what is Paul talking about? When I am cut do I not bleed?  Troubled on every side, but no distress?  If I am distressed does that mean I have failed in my faith?  Are all these trials a punishment for my sin? Or can there be other reasons?

save meArtwork used by permission of the artist Ronald Barba for information go to http://www.barba-art.com

[bctt tweet=”If anguish forces me to turn & look at the cross Could it be storms in my life are God’s Grace?”]

A STUDENT OF SUFFERING

My life has not been exempt to sorrow.  Indeed, trials have always been present in one sense or another as a part of this my journey, my pilgrimage.  I have not been a stranger to emotional and physical abuse, cancer, chronic illness, financial disaster, multiple surgeries, false accusations, tragedies, death of those I loved most, and periods of desperate loneliness.  Beyond the sufferings from outside, there have been those torments from within. I mean by that the sufferings deep within the heart. Those moments of feeling unworthy, guilt laden and that fear of failing.  I tell you all this very honestly to allow you to know that I have been a student of suffering and as such have learned that there are 6 reasons that God allows suffering in the life of the Believer. All six reasons that God allows suffering in the life of the believer are acts of Grace born out of God’s perfect Love. Through suffering He leads and guides us to a place of Glory, Peace, Hope, and Exceeding Joy.

The six reasons why God allows and even ordains suffering in the life of the Believer are as follows.

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