God's purpose to grant us everything through suffering

You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord . . . (James 5:11)

Job is the guy we all know who suffered the most in the history of mankind besides Jesus.  He lost everything he had and everyone he loved (except his nagging wife), and experienced the worst kinds of mental, spiritual and physical pains.  But worst of all Job suffered when he not only did nothing to deserve it, but did everything to deserve the opposite of suffering!  He was an obedient, steadfast, and righteous man of God.  Yet he went through so much pain and turmoil in his life.  He is a type of Jesus.

Yet in the end Job received from God more than what he had in the beginning.  Job not only received the earthly things back in multiplication but he also received more of God relationally--a gift that God alone can give to a created human.  The gift of greater fulfillment.  This all happened because God used Job's pain to bring him closer to the knowledge of who God is and, in turn, led Job to intimacy with his Maker.  The devil had his purposes for seeing Job suffer, which Job's friends also agreed with, but God has His own purpose for Job's suffering.  In the end the purposes of God will prevail and our part is to remain in Him for that very reason.

“Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.”
John 15:2

Pruning time is our opportune time to grow for every child of God.  When pain hits our lives, we can know the Surgeon is working on the health of our hearts.

That sounds counter-cultural since hard times and pain will equate to bad times and misery by the interpretation of culture.
But we know that God has His way of making all things new and He begins by pruning away what is hindering us from truly blooming in abundant fruit!
In order for a butterfly to hatch it has to leave behind its caterpillar lifestyle and enter into the encasement of a cocoon.

He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?
Romans 8:32

To be encased or "stuck" in time, away from our wants and desires, is not to be withheld from them.  Rather, God is shaping us to enjoy our desires to the fullest capacity by making our hearts set on Him, making us whole, so that the rest of us can gather His gifts without losing our wholeness in the process.  Everyday He wants to bless us even more, but if we do not have whole hearts then we will be tempted to find wholeness in a gift we do not have yet....essentially turning our lives into a continual treadmill bonanza.  Step off the treadmill and wait in whatever circumstance God has you in because God is a good and loving Father who wants us to enjoy life and enjoy eternal life to the fullest!  It begins now in our brokenness.  Our weak natures are being transformed into the new nature.  By the time we reach full communion with God in Heaven we will finally understand His purposes for our pain on earth as necessary for our complete joy in heaven.

Find your life here and you will lose it at death, but lose your life and you will find it both here and in Life everlasting.  (Luke 17:33)

We waste our time believing the lies of the devil who tries to set our sights on his own purposes for our suffering, but we are called by Christ to set our eyes on the purposes of God.  Oftentimes, we feel this the most when we get defensive or disappointed with people.  When our hearts consider our suffering from the perspective and purposes of the devil then naturally we don't like it.  We begin to complain and get angry.  But who is the One in control of our circumstances?  Who's purposes are we viewing our circumstances from?

“Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

The prayer of faith will save the sick person,
and the Lord will restore him to health;
if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours;
yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain,
and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.”
James 5:9, 13, 15-18

When we suffer it doesn't mean we have to smile.  It means we have to look at God, often through tears and anguish,  and speak to Him because it shows us that we believe He knows what is going on and is in control.  Our limited scope will naturally leave us bewildered most of the time, but being bewildered does not inhibit us from being open to God.  What hinders us from being open to God is not looking to God at all.  When our focus remains on our circumstances and our expectations then we close ourselves off from our only hope.  We give the devil what he wants: our misery.

However, Christ reminds us that communion with the Father is our lifeline in this life and in our eternal life.

“You took off your former way of life,
the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires;
you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self,
the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Since you put away lying,
Speak the truth,
each one to his neighbor,
because we are members of one another.

Be angry and do not sin.
Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,
and don’t give the Devil an opportunity.

No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”
Ephesians 4:22-27, 29, 31-32

Putting truth into action today:
Let's wait in every season of feeling encased and remember that Time is in God's good hands and He will bring to fruition our deepest desires when we remain steadfast in Him.

Today is about waiting on the Lord during our times of suffering, and in the meantime, setting our eyes on Him from the place of our encasement.  Be open to His purposes.

Jmegrey