ISAIAH 30:20-21 – And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
THEME OF THE DAY: GOD’S SCHOOL OF TRIALS. The Christian life is the tried life. We are told by the Lord this would be true – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Apostle Paul reminds the believers in Asia Minor, and us, this is the reality in the Christian life – But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:19-22). And the Apostle Peter weighs in with the truth that trials will pave our road to heaven – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials (1 Peter 1:3-6).
As we think on the truth of trails, don’t forget to apply today’s scripture. Trials don’t just happen. They are sent from the Lord. Isaiah tells us “the Lord gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.” Those are graphic pictures of trials. And they are designed to teach us lessons. The prophet links the sending of trials to the role of the One sending them – our Teacher. So, what are we to learn in our trials? In times of trial, the Lord wants us to learn three things; trust in His sovereignty which is always good, glad submission to His will which is always right, and contentment in Christ alone which puts our minds and heart at ease allowing us to be teachable in the trials. These important lessons are what makes for the fruitful and influential Christian life. May we find ourselves good students in God’s school of trials!
PRAYER: “Father, help me to be a good student in Your school of trials – trusting, submitting, and contented.”
QUOTE: “Trials are to teach us, and in the midst of them, learn to pray, ‘Father, teach me’, not first ‘deliver me’.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim