Are you Wasting Your Troubles?

I was reading a article the other day and the question was asked , Are you wasting your troubles? Anytime God allows trials to enter your life, He has a purpose for them. He wants you to squeeze out every ounce of spiritual growth instead of letting difficulties squeeze you into despair and discouragement. If you’ll just respond in the right manner, the trial that looks as if it could destroy you, will become an instrument of blessing. I know this may be hard to swallow, but it is really true. Our most natural response to trouble is to groan and plead with the Lord to remove it. If that doesn’t work, we might get angry or try to find our own way out of the difficulty or pain. Sometimes we resort to blaming others for the trouble. And in truth, someone else might have caused the problem, but ultimately God allowed it. Just remember by the time the trouble reaches you, it’s been dipped in the Father’s love and shaped to accomplish His good purpose. The question is, will I cooperate with Him, or will I resist?

James 1:2-4  ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

God wants to use our trials to develop spiritual maturity in us, but unless we let it do its work, that opportunity will be lost. If we could foresee all the benefits the Lord designed our trials to accomplish, maybe we’d be more cooperative. Although we can’t see all the specifics of God’s plan, we know that His goal is to use our adversity to supply something we lack so we can be mature and complete. Even though the experience is painful, rest in the Father’s comforting arms, and let Him do His perfect work in you.