Fall 1994

Seeing the Storm as God Sees it
Richard M. Riss

When life becomes difficult, it helps if we can see things from the Lord's perspective.

How does the Lord view of our problems? First, we must understand that He loves us and desires the best for us, even when all looks bleak. At times it is difficult to realize this, particularly when our circumstances are difficult. But He has every circumstance of our lives completely under His control. There is a purpose for everything, whether or not that purpose is clear to us.

Even when we suffer, God very skillfully uses it to benefit us. While the enemy, or any human perpetrators of our suffering, may have evil intentions, God can still turn all of these circumstances around for our good, just as He did for Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, and who, as an innocent man, suffered many years in prison before he eventually became ruler over all of Egypt under Pharaoh, and saved his whole family from famine.

How does suffering benefit us? Suffering has the potential for tremendous character development. It will strengthen our faith and trust in Him, if we allow it to do so. It develops our ability to love those who are cruel to us. This takes practice, and can only be learned in the midst of persecution. The Lord allows this so we may learn to love the way He loves.

Jesus truly loved and forgave those who crucified Him. If we believe that God is our deliverer, and remember that even if our bodies were completely destroyed, no one can permanently harm us if we abide in His perfect will. Then we will be able to withstand any storm, no matter how severe.

At this very moment, by means of adversity, He is training us in the matters of faith. Through all our experiences, we are learning that God is big enough to bring us through any difficulty, no matter how severe. He is more than able to deliver us, for nothing is too difficult for Him.

If we become bitter due to our circumstances, then we circumvent the Lord's purposes. He would have us to rejoice in the midst of tribulation because trials work patience into our lives. This is the exact opposite of what one would expect, and it therefore does not come easily, yet this outlook is essential for us if we are to survive the severe storms of life.

The attitude of joy in the midst of difficulty is not something we can produce of ourselves. We must ask the Lord for His power to deal properly with each situation as it arises. This usually means doing the exact opposite of what would come to us naturally in the normal course of our lives.

How, then, can we begin to see things from the Lord's vantage point? We must ask for His "mind" that we may see our present situation as He sees it. Once He has granted us this insight, we must pray for the strength and ability to act accordingly. It is one thing to know we should not retaliate when we have been wronged, but it is quite another for us to return good for evil, graciously. This can only happen through the work of the grace of God. We must pray for an extra measure of grace that we may be clothed with an attitude of forgiveness.

Through adversity we learn faith, trust, and obedience. According to the book of Hebrews, Jesus, who was perfect, learned obedience through the things He suffered. He never complained, yet, step by step, was led through a series of adverse circumstances, all of which were ordained of His Father so He might be strengthened in obedience. If Jesus needed this training in obedience through suffering, then we need it more urgently.

We are being trained for spiritual warfare. The Lord knows what we need to learn in order to overcome in the great contest at the end of the age, and is allowing certain things to happen to us in order to prepare us. He does not desire us to become casualties when the hosts of the enemy engage themselves against the Lord and His armies.

May God grant us the ability to see that all of our circumstances, good and bad, are in His power, and that in His love, He is using them to shape and prepare us, so we will not be casualties in the storm that is rapidly approaching.

As we begin to see things more fully from His perspective, may He grant us the extra measure of grace that we need in order to act accordingly, and may we honor that grace by complying with it in our lives and actions.