God, through thick and thin

One of the faults a church or pastor can make is failing to prepare their parishioners for the sufferings, losses, and adversities that will inevitably come into the life of every believer. Particularly churches that emphasize the power of God and move in the Pentecostal movement, we always talk about victory, power and spiritual warfare, but many times we do not talk enough about those times when we may find ourselves going through suffering or illness. , and that will require a posture of faith and humble obedience to the sovereign will of God.

How many times have you gone through a difficult situation in your life — illness, financial deprivation, difficulties in your job or in your profession? Perhaps there has been a time of spiritual drought, even depression, marital problems, and difficulties in life, and you have prayed to the Lord to pass that cup away from you. You have fasted, and you have confessed all the sins that you can remember and even those that perhaps you could have committed without realizing it. You have reconciled with all the people who did something to you and with whom you have offended. You have rebuked and declared; You have done everything that the Pentecostal manual prescribes to be victorious in the test, and yet the problem, the disease, the difficulty still continues.

Many times, when despite all our efforts the trial persists, our tendency is to doubt God's faithfulness and mercy.

The truth is that situations will come into our lives that we will not be able to explain in any rational way. And in those cases we will simply have to accept that God is sovereign. We will have to recognize that God is Lord, that he is not wrong, and that by definition he does nothing wrong. It will be necessary to recognize by faith that everything he does in the life of his children is good by definition, and that although perhaps at the moment that we are going through the test we do not know the explanation, the Lord knows that this is necessary and is for our good, and even for the blessing of those around us.

Many times our sufferings will not be because we are outside the will of God, but precisely because we are within the will of God. As we see in the case of Stephen, who was doing the will of God, preaching His word, defending the lordship of Jesus Christ. His martyrdom comes precisely because he is declaring God's truth and moving in integrity as a minister and preacher of the Gospel.

Second Timothy 3:12, says: “… And also those who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution…” Sometimes, because of us speaking the truth and engaging in exemplary behavior, there will be people who will want to persecute and attack us. The enemy will try to destroy us and lead us to deny God's faithfulness and mercy. You want to neutralize our testimony that blesses the people around us so much.

In an earlier case in the history of the Early Church, God had chosen to free Peter and John from martyrdom, miraculously releasing them from prison. However, in this case, with a man filled with the Holy Spirit, with integrity in his walk with God, God sovereignly chooses not to deliver him from a painful and cruel death.

Why these two different ways of proceeding with his servants? God's plans and ways are not our ways. Sometimes he has purposes that will not have an easy or obvious explanation. Many times, when an undeserved test comes to our life, if we do not have a clear answer to our questions, we will simply have to say, “Father, although I do not understand, I submit to your will. You are Sovereign and I know that you are good. Let your will be done and not mine ”.

Stephen chose to glorify God in the midst of his terrible martyrdom. His heroic and exemplary behavior has served to inspire millions of believers throughout the 2,000-year history of the Church of Jesus Christ. Perhaps his innocently shed blood was instrumental in the eventual conversion of what would become the great Apostle Paul years after his death.

Habakkuk's words in chapter 3: 17-19 are immortal words that we must always engrave in our hearts:

“… Although the fig tree does not blossom and the vines do not have fruit, although the olive tree is lacking and the tenants do not give maintenance, and the sheep are removed from the sheepfold and there are no cows in the corrals, yet I will rejoice in Jehovah and I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, who makes my feet like those of handmaids and makes me walk on my heights… ”

That is the attitude that the devil will never know how to manipulate or turn to his advantage. A Christian can never be defeated as long as he maintains that attitude, that posture of total surrender to the sovereign will of God in his heart.

Remember that your sufferings are never in vain. There is always a sublime purpose behind each of our sufferings. God is always working positively in the life of each of his children. Nothing that happens in the life of a servant of God is without meaning or purpose. All of God will use it to fulfill His benevolent purposes in your life.

Let us live the Christian life with that sense that nothing can separate us from the love of God. In the sublime words of the apostle Paul, "neither height, nor depth, nor any other created thing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Certainly, "those who love God, all things work together for good." With that confession, jump into the waters of life with confidence, and let God fulfill his sovereign purpose in you. If you trust him, you will never be disappointed.

(This text is part of a sermon preached by Pastor Miranda. You can watch it or listen to it in its entirety: Do God's will and -still- suffer ).