Thank God
for trials! What would we ever do
without them? I can tell you what we
would do. We would shrivel up and blow
away with the first strong wind; we would become as weak as newborn babes. Why is this?
Because it is trials that make us strong, trials that make us grow,
trials that bring us wisdom, and finally it is trials that will cause us to be
a comfort to others when they come face to face with what we have left
behind. Then they eventually will see how He makes all things beautiful in
His time, even as in the lyrics of the song.
Hope can now be embraced as those who have been afflicted vow to rise
again. It will be these who will one day
encourage others who will follow in their steps. And in this way the armies of God move ever
onward, retrieving from the enemy what in times past was theirs, though now
returning to them with increase.
When the
truth is told, the believer will see that every trial that comes their way
comes from above; actually it is a packaged gift from God. The trouble is that the packaging is so
difficult to remove, that doing so may make us feel like we’ve been through a
bad train wreck. But finally when our
storm has passed, and the gift uncovered, the pearl of great price is before
us; our joy is made full and a new season lies ahead.
Too often
does the follower of Christ see the trial they face as though it were an
enemy. True that it will be the enemy
who will take a flying leap right into the center of it all – and land
hard. But the testing itself has come to
us from the Father of lights. It is
always He who initiates a thing. And
when He does, it is meant for our good – for strength, for growth, for wisdom,
so that one day we may comfort another concerning their own affliction. It is in this way that Joseph comforted his
repentant brothers when he told them that what they had meant for evil, God had
meant for good. Always is it Him behind
the scenes, working all things according to the good pleasure of His will.
Life is an
obstacle course; it is the race that we run.
But to lay hold of the mercies that are new every morning, to embrace
the grace that is ours by inheritance.
It will be by these that we will overcome all that is set before
us. And so we must forge ahead and not
look back; we must not look to the left or to the right. For it is the event of our life, with the
eyes of many upon us, as we face testings and heartaches, anguish and
affliction. Still, victory is always
within reach.
Sometimes our
trials may be due to sin. But don’t beat
yourself up too badly for this. Nobody
ever died sinless but the Son. What we
often fail to realize is that we are infested with this poison; and it goes
right down into the bone. On occasion
I’ve heard some mistakenly say that God will never use an unclean vessel. If they were talking about a vessel of flesh
and bone – of body, soul and spirit, which is what we are, then I guess that
the only vessel He has ever used is the One who came down from heaven.
Men are
sinners – all men, from the highest pulpit on down. Sin isn’t just doing a bad thing. Neither is it missing the target. Sin is missing the bulls-eye. And how often do you think that occurs? But even beyond this, sin is the state of our
human nature, which has caused us to become separated from God; it is our
position as related to His. Romans 3:23
reads, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …”. This type of writing is called
parallelism. Parallelism can be found
throughout the bible. It’s the writer repeating
what he has just finished saying, but now with a different choice of
words. And so, in the case of Romans
3:23, Paul would then be telling us that to sin, and to come short of His
glory, is really one and the same. Putting it another way, because we are found
to be outside of His glory, we are also found to be in sin; we were conceived
in it. But take heart. Here is the Good News. When you read the five verses that surround
Romans 3:23, we come to understand that despite our sin, He has lavished upon
us Grace, Justification, and His very own Righteousness. And one day, according to I John 3:2, we will
be all that the Son is, while making up His very body, He being the Head. And it will be on that Day that now even the
glory will fall upon us, even as it clothes the Son; and this forever.
What I have
just written is all for the sake of saying this. Don’t put your focus on the conquering of
your sins. Most naturally we should
fight off temptations when they come, and with all that we have at our
disposal; and hopefully we will be the victors.
But to fix our minds on the winning of battles is not only the wrong way
to do warfare in heavenly places, but it is a distraction. How is that?
Because it takes our eyes off of where we should have them and sets them
on the bathroom mirror – when it is not about us. Our vision must ever be raised to where Jesus
is seated at the right hand of God – in power!
He is our victory, and not our own fleshly endeavors. And that is why the apostle Paul entreats us
to have our mind stayed on things above, since we have died to our lives in
this world. If we follow Paul’s advice,
we may not come out unscathed from our battles against the dark powers. Though in the end we will be the conquerors;
and that through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is
however another place that we can raise our vision to, where the Son of God
stands waiting for us. It is at the
finish line of the race we run. But this
also is in the heavenlies, even as is our warfare. It is all important then that I keep my eyes
fixed on the goal where waits my reward.
His name is Jesus. And on that
Day when I cross the finish line, I will receive a new name. That means that I will no longer be known as
Joe Pecoraro. And why would this
be? It’s because Joe Pecoraro is my
slave name. How is that? Because when I was born into this world, I
was born into the slavery of sin. I
inherited it from the man Adam, the father of us all. I was given the names of my forefathers
before me, who were also born into sin’s slavery. But on the Day that I finish my course I will
no longer have to bear the shame of my slave name. Because on that Day, I will be given by the Lord
a name that says I am free, even as it will be with all who are born from above. How would it make sense for the names that we
have borne in this fallen world to follow us into the kingdom of His dear Son?
Yes; names
to say we are free! And made up of
heaven’s alphabet, I believe it only suitable that an eternal weight of glory
should be upon the sound of every name given.
God speed the Day!
J. Pecoraro
