Why we need difficulty

You may not like what I'm about to say but it's true.  We need trials, adversity, difficulty in order to be useful to God.  Let me explain myself.  When things are going your way how often do you think, "Wow, I've got this under control God.  You sit this one out.  I will let you know when I need you again."  We don't go to Him unless we have struggles.  It keeps us close to God.

2 Corinthians 12:7
even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

The apostle Paul a man who God miraculously converted and writer of 2/3 of the New Testament even needed it.  The verse above tells it all.  He needed a thorn(trial, affliction, ailment, etc) in order to remain humble and therefore used by God.  God doesn't need you to have gifts, talents and abilities but He will use them.  What God wants is for us to realize that He's the one doing the work, giving the gifts, the talents, and the blessings.

Let's keep reading about this thorn and Paul.


8For this thing I sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me

We may be going through a really tough battle but know that God's grace is enough.  He is our strength.  Our lives are not meant to be lived like we did it all and God just happened to show up to take credit for it.  God created the world in which we live as stated in Genesis and the Bible teaches that He formed us in our mother's womb.  So if He's done all that and it's obvious we can't do the things He does...shouldn't we listen to Him and except what He wants to do.

So often we just go to God and say I want, Lord I need, give me this, help me with that...but we don't realize that if we don't go through difficulty and His perfect divine timing we won't learn anything.  What if you got a million dollars today?  But because you have always been bad with money you just blow right through it.  You are left angry, bitter and broke.  On the other hand what if God gave you poverty for years upon years of your life.  A financial situation so bad that you have to scrape, pray and trust God for every penny.  Then later in life God provides a million dollars do you think you would appreciate it and have a better knowledge of how to use that money?

We need to go through things in order to be more useful to God.  He needs to teach us that we need Him!  What good is a life if we don't know how to use it?  If we use it for our glory we have missed the point.  It's for God's glory that we go through things!

God knows what He is doing and He hears your prayers.  You have to put your faith in Him and know He is your strength. 

Standing In Faith

I have been fortunate that I've been able to work with many true believers who love God and give thanks to His son Jesus daily. It has been a true gift and now I've applied to be involved in one of the farthest reaching ministries in the world. The Creation Museum.

We as followers of Jesus Christ must be ready to stand and be persecuted for our faith. The owners of Chick fil A have made this decision and have been accused of hate. But daily Christians are treated with hate worldwide. We are told to be tolerant but fewer will tolerate a life where a person truly lives for Christ.

In this world we must not grow weary or weak in our faith. We must remain rooted in God's word. We must remain strong in our prayers. We must have love. If we forget about love then we are very flawed in our faith.

I am not claiming to be perfect but drawing on what I have learned walking with God for 16 years of my life.


Going to church is not enough. Be a "good" person is not enough. Only when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and repent(ask for forgiveness of our sins) can we go to heaven. A place where there is no pain, no tears, perfect peace, a place where we will judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). What is sin? In Abrahamic contexts, "a sin" is an act that violates God's will. The 10 commandments come to us from Exodus 20:1-17. Here is the verse:

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

We must remain strong in Christ.

Focus

Do you ever plan something but get so distracted that it doesn't get done? I've had quite a few things I want to get done. Obviously my ebooks are very important and I haven't delivered. Now I'm looking in the mirror and saying hey it's time to go. God I have got to continue to grow in You. God you are my creator and have done more in my life than I could ever understand. The bible says that "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nothing is impossible with God." I have got to start showing that in my life. I have got to pick up the slack and get things done. Please keep me in your prayers. I need them so much right now.

The Body