My Friend Is Going Through Some Pretty Rough Trials… April 23, 2008

My friend is going through some pretty rough trials. She feels very angry towards God for these trials. Is it a sin to be mad at God?

Re:1Jn.5.17 says that all mistakes are sins (RSV). The word ‘sin’ is a technical term in the Bible and it has special meaning in the Bible just as the words ‘bug’ and ‘virus’ in a computer text book are technical words which have special meanings. The word ‘sin’ in the Bible stands for moral and spiritual mistakes. In this sense, yes, indeed, it is sin to be mad at God.

Let me try and explain the situation. Your friend is going through rough trials. Obviously she is a Christian believer. That is why she is mad at God. If she was an atheist, she could not be mad at God as to an atheist God is a non-entity. Indeed, it is this sort of trials which make some to become atheists. I am glad that your friend has not gone to that extreme. Then it would be beyond help (1Jn.5:16). But in her present situation, we can try and help her and pray for her.

I suggest that any one going through trials in life must read a few passages of scripture regularly and muse on them. James chapter 1 must be read again and again. Like wise read through the book of Job several times during the periods of trial. Psa.55 is another passage and make Ps.143 as a regular prayer during this period. Of course there are other passages as well.

The first thing James says about trials ( vv.2-4 ) is that one must count it all joy. The simple reason is that it is an indication that God is at work within us. He is working towards perfection. If we interfere and do not co-operate with God, it is going to cost us dearly. It is like some one being called upon to write an examination. After all, every one is not called. Only those who are qualified are called upon! So rejoice.

Then James says we need to ask God for wisdom to face the situation (vv.5-8). If your friend is willing to do these two preliminary things, things are pretty much going to fall in place and she will come out victoriously.

James then goes on to say that status in life is a trial of one’s faith (vv.9-11) as he talks about the rich and the poor. Some people commit sin because they are rich; others commit sin because of poverty. Let us remember whether due to riches or due to poverty sin is sin. All trials in life are temptations to commit sin. So trials in life are really a test of your faith! Do you only trust God for the good things He gives you or do you have a better reason to trust God for? By the way, is your friend’s trials connected with a financial situation?

V.12 talks about the crown of life which would be given to the one who endures trials. Crown of life is not merely some thing which awaits a believer in eternity. It is the quality of life offered here and now after the period of trials. Crown of gold indicates crown made of gold. Like wise crown of life indicates crown made of abundant life which Christ promised (Jn.10:10) to those who follow Him.

Look at the whole chapter in the context of trials in life. It will be an excellent study in itself. The last verses talk about true religion being helpful to widows and orphans. This may suggest to the one undergoing trials in life that after all there are many others who suffer their whole life being widows and orphans! Every one is not a widow or an orphan. When people suffer their whole life being what they are, how could one look at the temporary phase of life with anger at God?

Your friend either has NO RIGHT to be angry at God OR she has NO NEED to be mad at God. She has no right to be mad at God as she faces trials in life IF the present situation that she is in is caused by her own past actions (cf.Js.1:13-15). She knows it well. None of us may ever know it. But she knows it. But if she does not know, let her sit quietly in the presence of the Lord and find out whether the situation that she is in, is caused by her own past actions. If she thinks, “yes” she has no right to be mad at God. She can just humbly ask God to forgive the past and rectify the present situation for His glory, which He will surely do at His own time.

Then IF she comes to know with out a doubt that the present situation is NOT caused by any thing that she did in the past, she has NO NEED to be angry at God. God is at work within her preparing to give her a higher quality of life through the present situation. In other words, God is melting and molding her to suit His purposes for her. It may be painful for her. But remember that there is no crown with out a cross. Only those who suffer with Him ever will ever reign with Him (2Tim.2:11).

Either way, she must rejoice in the fact that God is at work within her life. Ps. 50:15 says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will glorify me”. Js.5:13 says, “If any among you suffer, let him call upon the Lord”. Sufferings are occasions when God is invoking us to draw closer to Him. Make use of this special calling from God to be nearer to Him. Like Daniel, let us be found three times a day on our knees before God in prayer (Dan.6:12). Other wise we will be defeating the purpose of being a believer in Christ. Remember that He promised that He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able and that He will make a way out as well (1Cor.10:13). Of course He knows our frame (Ps.103:14) and He will never over-load His loved ones! Praise be to His Holy Name.

A word of testimony might help her. The one who wrote this answer has been unable to stand up and walk for the last seventeen years following a fever which left him semi-paralyzed. He began his life as a Bible translator after his studies in Biblical languages and in Linguistics. But 12 years after being in the field where he saw marvelous answers to prayers, he is now in the present situation rejoicing over the fact that God is at work within him. For one second he could not doubt God’s goodness and grace towards him and the family. If interested read more of his stories at www.mathewpaul.org .

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. We know that what ever God does in the life of a believer, God does it in grace and for a purpose (2Cor.1:3-11). May the gracious loving Heavenly Father be praised

Suffering For Christ-A Higher Calling February 23, 2008

Often many are bewildered at the eerie silence of God especially when some of His own people are cruelly murdered and mishandled in various ways.  What is the Biblical insight into such situations? 

A conspicuous silence of God is witnessed in Acts 7 where the first martyr of the Christian church witnessed martyrdom. Here was Stephen mightily defending his faith before a furious crowd. Should we not expect God to defend His servant on such an occasion? Where was the God of Daniel? Was He not any more at work in that fashion? We are told in Acts 7 that as Stephen looked up he saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:56). Why was He a silent spectator this time? Three times in the book of Acts prison doors were opened miraculously; twice for Peter and once for Paul (Acts 5:19; 12:10; 16:26). But the book of Acts closes with a closed prison door. What happened now?  Are we to think like some that the age of miracles slowly came to an end towards the end of the book of Acts? God forbid. If the age of miracles were to come to an end, how are to understand the reference to Elijah in Js.5:17? Any student of scripture will agree that the passage teaches that if one prayed like Elijah miracles will indeed take place to-day. If that is so, how are we to understand the many martyrdoms in the history of the church? Truly, our question is: “Why was God silent when the Staines were burnt alive?

Thanks be to God for the scriptural revelation. Scriptures tell us that these are occasions when God is giving a higher calling to the ones concerned. Suffering for Christ is seen in the scripture as a gift to the believer (Phil. 1:29). Suffering is the only path to glory. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim.2: 12). In other words our Lord is preparing a set of bureaucrats to rule with Him in His eternal kingdom. Those who qualify themselves are the ones who suffer for Christ now here on earth. To categorize every suffering of a believer as the result of sin is one of the tricks of the devil so that believers will shudder and refrain from suffering for Christ. The greatest saint of India is Sadhu Sunder Singh. He is also called “the apostle of the bleeding feet”. Yes, indeed, the greatest saints are the ones who suffered the most. To day we need men and women who would choose the path of suffering and who would bear their crosses daily knowing that big dividends await them. An aptly given title of a book is “Peril by choice”. It is the biography of a western missionary who went into one of the remotest tribes of Amazon.

We need to remember when we suffer we are not alone. Listen to what the prophet says. “In all their afflictions, he was afflicted…” (Isa. 63.9). Yes, indeed, there is a new dimension in the sufferings of a believer in Christ. Paul graphically pictures the same in Col. 1:24 when he says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ”. So when a believer suffers it has eternal repercussions. Remember what the prophet Zephaniah says in 3: 17b. “He is silently planning for you in His love” (a paraphrase). Silence of God is a welcome thing on such occasions and one must be able to rejoice over it.