Sharing in each others suffering(part 5)

Question: How can our ‘Crises’ be an experience of PURPOSEFUL SUFFERING THAT LEADS TO GROWTH?

Answer: First of all we can use the James clue which says in James 1 v 2, 3 ‘my friends, be glad even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested.

Dear friends, our trials are ‘faith examiners’ to assess our readiness to attain the next phase of growth in our lives. Therefore they provide an initial indication that the time has come for us to move on to another degree of trust in the Lord.



What are the characteristics of this phase of our lives? In some cases if we are considering the pattern of response to our prayer, we do not seem to get the same kind of feedback when we make requests to the Lord our God in prayer. The Bible is full of illustrations to this factor. When God is working in our lives He often appears MORE ANNONYMOUS IN HIS RESPONSES TO OUR PRAYERS. When someone is anonymous they want to protect their identity for a reason. I guess for lack of a better definition I will identify God in certain situations as our anonymous respondent. The problem then occurs whilst we attempt to follow-up on his responses. This is at the stage when we have numerous questions to ask, each one emerging out of attempting to unravel the mystery in our particular situation or circumstance. Dear friend, may be like me you have encountered a problem or a situation which you have brought to God in prayer. To begin with you may have presented Him with specific requests which involved what you considered a reasonable deadline and yet after missing all your deadlines it appears God has remained anonymous. The situation has probably led to an initial state of disappointment. When your circumstances seemed gradually changing to a worse stage an element of resentment seemed to develop in you. Of course we do not disbelieve in God’s ability to change situations, but then WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY HE WOULDN’T HURRY UP AND ANSWER PRAYER IN MORE OBVIOUS WAYS.



Friends, we wonder why God chooses to remain anonymous when we are becoming so desperate in a particular situation? I can identify with this state in which He does not appear to pay as much attention to our petitions and pleas for intervention. Our response is very important in determining whether we grow or wither as a result of such critical experiences. What does it mean to ‘grow’ in response to trials and testing times? The New International Version of James 1 v 2-4 helps us picture this process of trials leading to growth: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, v3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.



Friends, ‘maturity’, ‘becoming fulfilled’ and ‘independent’ are all characteristics of growth. Growth is not necessarily success, which is the attainment of our goals! Growth is the result of giving an appropriate response during a period of ‘tension’ or perhaps ‘intense pressure’. In these series of reflections a crises is highlighted as a catalyst which can result in a growth inducing response from us. On the other hand it could be the reason for failure to grow. The Bible, the word of God admonishes us to maintain a godly attitude whenever we are faced with difficulty or with problems. Well, after identifying what growth means we should also look at the opposite, which is to wither. This opposite occurs when we ‘give in to compromise’ or ‘crumble’ because we are under pressure. Hebrews 12 v 3 asks us to emulate the example of Jesus Christ. Being Christ like is synonymous with maturity (something I learnt from listening to the late Ed Cole). The verse reads, ‘consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and loose heart.