WHY THE GODLY SUFFER----A LETTER TO A FRIEND. COPYRIGHT © JANUARY 14, 1996 All rights reserved. This file, in its entirety, may be posted on or copied off of computer networks like Internet or WWW by anyone so inclined. This is an ASCII text only copy of a Macintosh MicrosoftWord5 file made for non-Macintosh folks, so it is very plain and basic in its form (footnotes, indentation and page layout). The document is 6" wide and Palatino 12 plain font in the original. So when your text only version comes up with Palatino 14, just find Select All (under File) and change it to Geneva 10, Helvetica 12 or Palatino 12 . That will smooth out the paragraphs and lines, giving you a much more readable file. L. Tyler, P.O.Box 620763, San Diego, CA 92162-0763 Fri-Sun (ruth #1, lee #2)= ruth1lee2@aol.com but always send a "cc" to polyboy@delphi.com (Mon-Thur) since my stepdaughter messes with my email. Dear Friend, Please let me share some more with you from our talk Tuesday. Please remember the point about 1 Cor. 10:13, He doesn't allow you to be tried more than you can bear, because you are stronger, have a better understanding of spiritual warfare and a deeper faith, the trials will be greater--but never more than you can bear. Consider the trials of John the Baptist and all the apostles except John. They all died violent deaths at the hands of those who hate them, but never more than they could bear. An exercise is no exercise if it doesn't challenge you at the point where you have to strain and go aerobic, sometimes painfully. The same with "spiritual" muscles, the trial has to produce stress, strain and even pain for you to become stronger, more capable, more useful and fruitful. The fruitful vine looks terrible when it is pruned, and it would feel terrible if it could feel, but because it is pruned it has the potential of being more fruitful, and I know you want more fruit of the Spirit in your life. I know that you want to compassionately cherish God and others even more than you do now, and that's how you get there. This life is boot camp and a war, which, thank God, is shortened for our sakes. Our resurrected life with Jesus Christ is worth the struggle. All of our experiences in this mortal life can be used of God to prepare us to help, comfort, teach, encourage, edify etc others better when we are given the opportunity to be his delegated agents on earth as he rules from Jerusalem in fulfillment of His promises to King David. To rule the earth with Him enthroned in Jerusalem for a 1000 years (Rev. 20: 2-7), to walk around as His agents enabled to raise the dead, open the eyes of the blind, to bind up the broken limbs and hearts, to counsel the broken hearted with wisdom inspired of God, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to free the captives, to teach in power the lost how they can be found etc etc etc etc. I can hardly wait! Please consider attending a Christian divorce/grief recovery support group. You are still deeply grieving inside over your ex and those "saints" that so deeply and carnally broke your heart. I know that I desperately needed and greatly benefited from the free one I attended at Del Cerro So. Bapt. Church. It was critical in my recovery and in my readiness to be healed and in my learning how and where I needed to grow, to forgive my ex, and to prepare my heart for my next. Many churches and ministries have free support groups that are usually extremely helpful. Please call around for times and places and pray about attending and let the Lord minister to you through the saints. But why does He allow us to suffer, to grieve so deeply and have hearts so broken than you can feel the pain throughout your chest, so depressed that it seems a struggle to survive, grief so deep that you never know what will cause the tears to flow next? Here are some that I have become aware of and they are all for our good. Please consider them and, in each, ask if its goal was accomplished in your life. WE HAVE SUFFERED ---- 1. So that we can know that we belong to Christ. If the world hated Him, it will hate us too----if we live like He wants us to live. 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:19,20; Mat. 13:21,22,23 2. Because we are followers of Christ who was tortured and executed by the world. If they did it to Him, they'll surely do it to us too. John 15:19,20 3. So that evil doers will not come to God just to escape from Hell and suffering in this life. He wants sinners to come to Him because they love Him who first loved them, not because they forgot to join the Noah's Ark Club. The promise that all who live godly in Christ Jesus is often enough to scare away the superficial and shallow pretenders. Noah's flood + Rev. 21:27 4. So that we wont miss (be homesick, want to look/go back like Lot's wife did) this social-economic-political system when we are in Heaven or ruling with Christ on earth. To love the world's social, political, and economic systems is to be God's enemy. 1 John 2:15; Heb. 11:l3-19 5. So that we can know how and why to choose between the good and the evil. We don't seem to be so inclined to do evil if we know it is going to hurt, and hurt us specifically. Deut. 30:15-20 6. Because of our own sins. 1 Cor. 5 and 1 Cor. 11:30- 32; Hebrews 12. 7. To cause us to learn to be humble. 2 Cor. 12:7-10 8. To caution us against arrogant or ingnorant presumption in prayer and to exhibit to us His all-sufficiency in the affairs of our personal lives. 2 Cor.12: 7-10; Rom5:3,4 9. To learn and acquire patience, experience and hope in the compassionate cherishing of God in the midst of trials and suffering. Rom. 5:3,4 10. Becasue of His Name- Because of His Truth - Because of His Life - Because of the shining Light of His Truth, an honor to be counted worthy of His sufferings if God permits. Acts 5:41; Rom 8:17 11. So that we may have the honor of being glorified together with Him who suffered so greatly at the hands of this world's social system. Rom. 8:17 12. So that we may be perfected, completed, and matured spiritually. Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:10 13. So that we may learn to Love Jesus and His Way enough to obey Him even when it hurts. Heb. 5:8,9; Psalm 15:4 14. So that we may be established, strengthened and settled in Christ, pruned of all the dead wood. 1 Peter 5:10 15. Because they hated and killed Jesus they will hate and try to kill the Jesus in us. Lk. 6:22; John 15:18,19 16. To end the cycle of hate and violence in our lives at us, we being shock absorbers for the evil around us, so that it will stop at us and we will learn not to pass it on. He has called us to turn the cheek, go the second mile and bless and pray for those who curse and abuse us. Matt. 5; Luke 6; Romans 12; 1 Cor. 6 17. So that our enduring and genuine faith may bring praise, honor and glory at His appearing in the presence of all the angels, demons, cherubim, seraphim and those with Christ. 1 Pet. 1:7 18. So that we could experience God's solutions and faithfulness and comfort for our griefs and trials so we will have learned how to share His comforting solutions with the others He leads us to who are experiencing similar grievous trials. Preparation for ministry now and in the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. 2 Cor. 1:3-5