Spiritual Strife Shock

 We all have moments when we feel down, crushed, desperate; those moments when you hurt so much that you focus on your pain entirely. You scramble, attempting to recall Bible verses, but you are in so much pain that the voice of reason is barely audible. The voice of pain screams, muffling everything else. Fellow Christians  tell you that everything will work out in accordance with the Lord's will. However, pain engulfs you to the point where you don't want to hear any of it anymore. You run  away from God. Sometime later--for some people can be moments for others days., or even longer---you feel ashamed and guilty because of what has happened. All that time God is waiting for you to come back to Him. He waits with arms spread wide.



As Christians we cannot lose our salvation, but we can destruct our sanctification-- walk with God. In some cases, when a person refuses to repent. the Lord can give that believer's body to Satan for destruction, so the spirit can be preserved.
The way we live our lives affects others. Our lives are testimonies of our faith. Whenever we endure trials we are supposed to count them as joy, because the are ripen our faith.
As for me, I am not at that level yet. Trials do come my way. During hard times I am not joyful. My sinful nature turns on "self-pity" mode. 'Why me' is the default phrase. Last week it was so bad that I even refused to listen to a best friend who tried to share Bible verses with me. I was furious with God. So much so that I didn't even read my Bible. I have memorized few Bible verses but they didn't strike cord either, my heart was at its pinnacle of rebellion. So, I turned on some African Gospel music, not because I wanted to listen to God's word through music,  because I love the beat not because of lyrics . Slowly I began to pay attention to lyrics of songs. My heart became softer, until tears have streaked my face. My hand reaches out and grabs the Bible. I began to read. Prayer follows the action--sanctification with my Heavenly Father restored.
The next day I became angry at one of my classmates because that person refused to take my advice and we ended up to stay longer in chemistry lab in order to finish the experiment.
In the midst of it all Satan comes in and accuses me. It's important to remember that salvation is by faith only. True/genuine faith produces fruit. Each and everyone of us has different fruit.In some cases manifestation of fruit takes longer. Unfortunately, some Christian denominations believe that after salvation you have to experience certain things, if you haven't--you are not saved. Some people will have those experiences while others will not. Somebody told me that my salvation was not real because I haven't experienced certain things.
We can't assign God's work a blueprint. The Lord works in the most amazing ways. Each of those ways is different. We expect big miracles while letting small to go by unnoticed.  Jesus said that those who cannot be trusted with little things, cannot be trusted with big tasks. This is why we hear from so many people say that there are no miracles. I don't believe in luck. Those lucky moments are miracles: extension on the assignment, a surprise phone call from a friend, toothpaste on sale, safe journey from home to work--few ones I have had this week so far.
There is another thing--Devil can quote Bible verses, but he twists the verses. The war is never over until we get to heaven.We may have a repose from battles, but not from the war.

     

No matter what's on the go, God is always aware of everything that's going on in the world.