Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

• 2 Corinthians 6:4-10

“One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be humiliated without manifesting the slightest trace of anything but His grace in you.
“2 Corinthians 6, verses 4-10, are Paul’s spiritual diary, they describe the outward hardships which proved the hot-bed for the graces of the Spirit-the working together of outward hard­ ships and inward grace. You have been asking the Lord to give you the graces of the Spirit and then some set of circumstances has come and given you a sharp twinge, and you say-‘Well, I have asked God to bring out in me the graces of the Spirit, but every time the devil seems to get the better of me.’ What you are calling ‘the devil’ is the very thing God is using to manifest the graces of the Spirit in you.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (March 29, from The Message of Incincible Consolation)

Oswald Chambers makes an interesting point here.  If we endure hardships and rejoice as a result, it is hypocritical to say we are offended.  Indeed, we should be counting it all Joy as James says.

But it does not seem enjoyable at the time.

But I picked up an evangelist at the airport and his flight was delayed so that we would face rush hour traffic getting to the church.  Rather than running to the car, he stopped me, and we prayed.

Basically, his prayer was that Satan must really be worried to put so many roadblocks in our way.  He would not be going to all this trouble if this evangelism program was going to be a flop.

And I have used that concept a few times when everything tends to fall apart leading up to a major church event or even a family event.

And as Rev. Chambers says, we might be blaming these bad things on Satan when it is God trying to build those qualities in us.

One way or the other, the trials in our lives are reasons to rejoice.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.