Hardships are… well, hard. We don’t particularly enjoy them, even when we know they are producing good fruit in us. We also worry in the midst of them because we don’t know how long they are going to last or how they will turn out. Sometimes we even question God’s wisdom in letting us suffer from them. They are uncomfortable, disorienting, and a little scary. And when we feel that kind of pressure, we tend to complain.
God doesn’t like complaining. He has a solution for each of the hardships we go through. He knows how they will turn out. He has promised to be with us in them and to cause all of them to work together for our good if we love and trust Him. So when we complain about our trials, we are stepping out of sync with God and the environment of heaven. We are declaring that He might not have a solution, might not know how they will turn out, or might let them turn out in a way that ultimately harms us. That’s a contradiction to His character, purposes, and ways. It’s a negative statement about who we think He is.
Needless to say, this is not an attitude that invites the Lord’s Presence. In Numbers 11, His anger “blazed against” the Israelites who complained about their hardships. He dealt with them harshly because they had harsh opinions about Him. He kept His promises to the nation as a whole, but He withdrew the favor that would have been theirs if they had endured in faith. His Presence itself became a hardship rather than a blessing.
Resolve not to complain. About anything. Ever. Trust God’s dealings in your life, even when they seem torturous or confusing. Know without a doubt that His plans for you, even when mysterious, are good.
from: Experience God’s Presence
DISCERNMENT:
This was written years before the Covid pandemic and it sounded like it’s written today. Which means that at anytime in our lives, we will encounter hardships and trials. Large or small, still uncomfortable. Covid is worse because the whole world is affected. People are not only fearful; but at this time, entering third year of Covid, most are consumed in discouragement and mind fatigued. Most are not willing anymore to follow health protocols. But this is the period that hope is closer; not unless, we denied trusting God, then we will just sail along to the next round of plagues and so on and so forth.
God has plans for this Covid plague. Whatever they are, He wants us to stay in Faith that He is causing to work together in the midst of this pandemic an eventuality that would turn out for good for all of us. If we throw in the towel and lose sight of what He is doing, we will definitely suffer more emotionally and physically. Like the Bible people after the exodus from Egypt, they spent miserable 40 years in wilderness as the complaints grew louder and louder, that it became annoying to God who saved them from slavery. It’s the endurance in Faith that will pull all of us through to the finish line faster than when we are discontent and hopeless and turn our back away from God. More disasters follow suit. Since time immemorial, history proved it.
We need to stay positive for we have a positive God, bigger than life, JUDGE of our life! The new year is a new beginning. Wherever God leads us this year, I am in on His yacht of Salvation! I will listen and follow and be in sync with Father God. Complaints, dissatisfaction and hopelessness will not save us. We either swim with the Almighty or sink with the enemy of our souls.
Greatest GIFT - Naomi Jeremiah 