“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Do you ever wonder why God allows hard times for His children? My wife and I have been working through some things in our lives and just revisiting God’s Word for answers when He gave me Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert those forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. he humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord — Deuteronomy 8:2-3

During one of Paul’s most severe trials, he called out to God and pleaded for Him to intervene. Paul begged God to take away a “messenger of Satan” — this thorn in the flesh — but God repeatedly answered with a “no”. The third time Paul prayed to God, God reminded Paul that God’s grace was sufficient for anything Paul was going to face.

"My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" — Corinthians 12:9

Does God cry?

Do our tears actually cause God pain? Does God hurt when we hurt or is He stoic? Is He from deep anguish? If God cries does that somehow make Him a weaker God? It’s probably obvious from the wording of the question but yes I do believe that God’s heart really does break for the lost. I believe He really does shed tears for the broken. Maybe you have never thought about this before but I think it is important to know that we have a God that resonantes with our sorrow. We have a God that understands our pain. But how can we be sure of this? Read on . . .

Why is there so much pain in this world? I just met with a friend that is dealing with the loss of a close friend killed in a car accident. Others dealing with their kids being bullied. Another friend thinking about suicide–the depression is getting worse.

“My kid’s gay.”

“My kid just got kicked out of a Christian college for getting drunk.”

“My dad tried to commit suicide right in front of me. Blood was all over the floor.”

“I just had the worst day of my life. A letter was written about me saying horrible things.”

“My best friend was accused of molesting a kid.”

“I think my wife is cheating on me. I found some stuff.”

These are all real stories of things happening in people’s life around the world. These are painful things to go through. What do we do with all of our pain? The bible has a lot to say about pain.

1 Peter, 60 of 66

Suffering stinks.

Lamentations, 25 of 66

Lamentations was written as the prophet Jeremiah reveals the depth to which Israel had fallen from her once blessed days as God’s glorious children.  Now those days are long gone and Jeremiah compares the nation to a virgin woman who has been raped, a woman widowed by the death of her husband and a mother whose children have been taken away.  All three of these conditions are horrible, three of the worst conditions any woman could find herself in and this is the condition Israel is in during the ministry of Jeremiah.

Isaiah, 23 of 66

Isaiah is an interesting book.  Keep in mind that chapters and verses are not inspired by God like the words of Scripture — chapters and verses were added several hundred years after Scripture was complete to help in the corporate study of God’s Word.  Having said that, it certainly seems like God was overseeing some of those chapter/verse assignments.  It’s almost like Isaiah is a Bible within a Bible when you look at through its chapters and verses.  Check this out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

    1.    There are 66 chapters in Isaiah, there are 66 books in the Bible.

 

    2.    There are 39 chapters in the Old Testament, 27 in the new.  Isaiah 39 ends with captivity (like the OT) and chapter 40 starts with the proclamation of “comfort” for God’s people (ie.  The coming of the Messiah, which begins in Matthew the first book of the NT — book #40 in our English Bibles)

 

    3.    Isaiah ends with final judgment and salvation…the Book of Revelation is all about final judgment and salvation.  In fact, the last three verses of Isaiah speak of the “new heavens and new earth” — just like Revelation 22!

 

C’mon, you know that’s cool!

For today’s Tenth Dot, would you take out a piece of paper and use it to answer questions after each page?  Take some time to really think through your answers and answer the question(s) on one page before moving to the next.  Don’t worry, there’s just a few pages but your answers will help you make real application to your life.  Pull out that paper, or journal, or word processing document and then get started!

If you made it through Progress congratulations! Today we will continue with our daily Tenth Dot’s. May God inspire you as you spend time with Him today.

PROGRESS:  Living for today, planning for tomorrow

Day 12 of 28 (start at day 1 by clicking HERE)

The Joseph Mindset:  Day 5

As you start to finish up this section on past pain, we hope you are starting to find God at work with your history of hurt.  Please don’t hear us minimizing any of your painful experiences or trying to trivialize the hurt you’ve endured.  But do hear us proclaiming the redemptive message of Christ and that through Him, your pain — no matter how deep or how hurtful — can be used for your good and His glory.  God can and will fulfill His grand purpose in your life as you learn to surrender everything — especially the pain of the past! — to His care.  Don’t give up.

One of our passions at Tenth Dot Ministries is to encourage you to spend time with God not just learn about God. This week we want to encourage you to read through the book of Philippians. It’s a short 4 chapter book. If you have questions, prayers or thoughts write them in the comment section. Wrestle with God. Ask questions about your life. Let His Word speak into your life.