IS THE LORD ALLOWING YOU TO GO THROUGH A TOUGH TIME RIGHT NOW? HE’S DOING IT TO HELP YOU GROW IN GRACE AND TO TRUST HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART by Geoffrey Grider for Now the End Begins
So what do you do when you’re going through a trial that puts you to bed in tears and wakes you up with anxiety? You do what Job did, what David did, what Joseph did, what Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane, submit to it and allow His will to have rule and reign over you. For the blood-bought, born again follower of Jesus Christ there is no other way. None at all. God is good, and if you’re saved, He wants to grow you in His grace and love. Trust Him.
Just about anything you or I could experience in this life that is hard and unpleasant, including being publicly executed, Jesus endured in the flesh, in His humanity.
While watching a show on YouTube called ‘What Would You Do?‘, a show where they have actors mixed into real situations unawares to see what people would do in response, I came across an especially heart rending episode, and have posted it at the bottom of this article. It centered on a single mom with her two kids, and she could only afford one meal for them to share. Watching the overflowing compassion that strangers had for them in their situation swiftly brought tears to my eyes. And as I watched, the Lord spoke to me about trials, hardship and how He wants us all to grow in grace as we walk with Him.
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“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 (KJB)
How well I remember my own specialized trial from the Lord, one of many, back in 2013, when my lesbian manager at Citibank fired me on the spot when she found out I was the creator of Now The End Begins. Trusting in the Lord I quickly found a new position at Florida Blue, only to be fired from that job 5 days later, soon after I found out I was blackballed by the recruiter network in NE Florida. Imagine that, but true. Now I was about to find out what trusting in the Lord was really all about.
In just a few months I ran out of money, unable to pay rent, and found myself out on the street and homeless in Florida. One of my dear friends and fellow street preacher Steve took me in and for the entire summer, for the first time in my adult life, I was living on the charity of someone else, unable to pay my own way. Well the Lord ordered every step along the way, and I wouldn’t trade what He showed me during that time for all the money in the world. He used that trial to help me grow in His grace, not to hurt me. How about you?
