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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
As our world continues to seem lost in the fog of the widespread effects of this Coronavirus global pandemic, I’ve been trying to bring you HELP, both for now and for the future. The truth is, my friends, regardless of your age, your ethnicity or country of citizenship, or where you live. . . for the rest of our lives we will live with the impact of these current months. Life will never return to exactly what it was. Therefore I’m trying to learn, and pass along to you some God given life skills that can help us not simply survive such crazy times, but help us grow in them and be of help to those around us who are trying to navigate the storms WITHOUT Jesus!
I’m using the word R E S T O R E as a guide and giving you a word or concept for each letter. We began with the Power of REMEMBER, and how God over and over in history calls His people to find HOPE in looking back and seeing how God has worked in their lives in the past.
Then secondly I urged us to consider that because God came here to earth in Jesus’ incarnation, and Hebrews 2:18 tells us “Because Jesus suffered when He was tempted (tested) He is able to help those who are being tempted.” So when we are nearly overwhelmed in the storm, we can look up and talk to Jesus knowing He understands our situation, and in His EMPATHY for us, He can help us.
Thirdly I called us to consider this great reality…no matter how desperate things may become God is SOVEREIGN over it all, and the Holy Spirit living here in us is SOVEREIGN in it all, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our SOVEREIGN SHEPHERD inviting us to follow Him and He will lead us through this for His glory and our good!
Now this week let’s look at the reality that these difficult, confusing times provide a TEST for us, in fact this week I invite you to look at 5 different TESTs God leads us through in times like these. Of course TESTs can be discouraging or they can be helpful to our growth and development as we learn in the journey. So a second important word this week is TEACH. God wants to TEACH all of us through the TESTs, and here’s the first for today. . .the TEST of ADVERSITY.
Look back over the past 6 months or so. Adversity is a good word for what our world has been experiencing. Illness and death, over-run hospital, and over-stressed medical workers. Economic turmoil, job loss, business bankruptcies, inability for people to pay their debts and in some cases not even purchase basic necessities. School closures, loss of so many things related to school like athletics, graduations, scholarships and more.
Open your Bible to Deuteronomy 8:1-9. The setting is the huge, fertile plain just east of the Jordan river and little north of the Dead Sea. The time is about 1410bc. Moses is old and the book of Deuteronomy are his farewell speeches to the adult children of the 1 million slaves he led out of Egypt 40 years before. That generation has died in the desert, and the new generation is ready to cross into the new land, but first Moses gives them some important lessons to learn. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to TEST you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.” (Deut. 8:2)
Is that part of what God is doing right now, all around our world. . .YES! God is providing humanity another TEST. He’s watching to see how humanity, especially those people in any leadership roles, are responding to Coronavirus and all the various results, and we’re watching too! Of course God knows what’s in our hearts, but would you agree it’s in stressful times of adversity that WE see what’s in our hearts! The reality of what is down deep inside us bubbles up in our attitudes, our words, our choices and our actions, when we face ADVERSITY. Have you been surprised at what you’ve seen in these weeks?
Moses continued, “God humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with Manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to TEACH you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deut. 8:3) There it is friends… the key to this week. In the TESTs we face, comes the TEACHing God wants to help us with!
Exodus 16 is the miracle of the first arrival of God’s provision of manna for the fleeing slaves who’d run out of food in the desert. It fell from heaven 6 mornings a week. There was plenty, as long as they did it God’s way. He was teaching to depend on Him DAILY. But they had to get it early before the sun burned it off, and ONLY on Friday could they collect enough for 2 days, because none fell on Saturday! So what has God been teaching you and me, my friends, during these Coronavirus months? What have you learned about yourself, about your trust in God, about God’s provision for your needs?
Now in closing today, link Deuteronomy 8:1-9 with James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my friends, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the TESTING of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously…” So you see, my friends, that God is working in our times of Adversity (trials) which are TESTing the authenticity and durability of our faith in God! It’s like a fitness workout for your muscles. Stress, pressure, challenges, even problems are all used to TEST the reality of our spirituality. And God teaches us as we ask Him for wisdom in those times.
Finally, add the Apostle Peter’s comments from 1 Peter 1:6-8 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (tests). These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold…may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Peter, of course, experienced great persecution as he brought the story of Jesus across the Roman Empire. Eventually he too was crucified, upside down, history tells us! He learned that trials, persecutions, problems, provide the testing ground to validate the genuineness of the power of the Holy Spirit within you as a follower of Jesus.
So today my friends, here’s a concluding statement I’ve developed which I invite you to ponder deeply:
Danger: Adversity can harden hearts, ignite bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness and anger.
OR Adversity can fuel my trust in God and refine, develop and strengthen my character!
Oh Lord Jesus, help me to see the value of TESTing situations in these chaotic days of turmoil, and help me LEARN the lessons which can refine my character and draw me closer to you Jesus.
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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