From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

“Why is this happening to me, Lord?” Did you ever cry that out to God? Well, if you’re just walking with the “church” and not Jesus, you’ll be asking that til you croak! But if you buckle down in a serious and intimate walk with Him, you’ll eventually come to understand that when you actually allow Him to run your life, there is always a reason for your challenges and trials. Sometimes, those challenges and trials involve a plan so much bigger and the effective results encompass so much more than just little ol’ you!

In God’s “School of Holiness”, He sometimes takes you through a whole bunch of experiences that are not solely meant for you, but for others (although you will learn a heck of a lot in them!). Remember the “broken bread and poured out wine” we are supposed to resemble!

God uses these experiences to help shape us into useful workers of His plan, not our own. Often, by enabling us to understand what takes place in the lives of others, we are more complete in Him, just as Jesus was, when He entered into His sufferings. “Enter into the sufferings of Christ” takes on a whole new meaning.

If we could choose our trials, there are so many we would not because we couldn’t see the value of the lesson. What God often sees as a way to faith, we (and others) see as foolishness. Are you prepared for God to stamp out your own personal ambitions? Or do you try to find a short cut around suffering. Get a revelation—there is none! The road with the Lord is a long, treacherous and difficult road most of the time, which can only be endured with Jesus Christ.

Don’t try to understand things beforehand but, rather, go through the trials head on (with the Lord that is!), even though not knowing where God is taking you but trusting that He truly knows where He’s going. And before you know it, you’ll be on the other side of that mountain and come to the realization that God had strengthened and changed you in going over it, so you could get through that challenge. What a great God we serve! Endure the fire—it’s producing pure gold!

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