Whangdepootenawah - an unexpected affliction that strikes hard. How do we deal with it? God had only one son on earth who never sinned but he still faced affliction. What afflictions are we facing today? *Fear - (v.4) Anything that takes our eyes off God. This can look like intimidation. *Enemies (v.7) Many of us don't have life-threatening enemies but we deal w/people who refuse to live @ peace w/us. *Troubles (v.17) Rough spots in life we see coming but can do nothing to stop them. *Afflictions (v.19) Pain & rough spots we are blind-sided by. All of God's children will go through suffering but we can endure it because God is w/us, He's overcome it all, and we enter the kingdom of God through suffering. We're simply sharing in the suffering of Christ w/Him. Our Hope: *God hears & answers us(vs. 4,6,15,17). *He promises His presence(v. 7&18). This is the biggest promise in the O.T. *He provides for our needs (vs.9-10). Both specific & general. Today, most of our tragedies we face are circumstantial. When we're hurting, look for the lesson God's trying to teach you. It's easier to not do something because we allow our emotions & feelings to dictate our lives. When we do the right thing through pain, we're blessed by getting to see God work in ways we would miss otherwise. Shift your eyes to God when the fiery trial comes because it is coming to us all but God wants us to know that He loves us & is there for us when it does come.
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Mark Clements, our associate pastor, has been at Suber Road since 1989 and has been on staff since 1991. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Bible and currently is pursuing a doctoral degree. Mark and his wife, Cindy, have two daughters, Ellen and Janice. More...
