Nine years ago, anyone could have asked me what I thought about my life, and if I were honest then, I would have said that I wasn’t happy. I (hated) my job and most of the people I worked with I couldn’t stand to be around longer than a work day. I also could have told you that I was impatient, not in control of my life, held hostage, and chasing things in this world that – if the sin was consuming things; it would have made a Billy goat puke. As the saying goes, my life in a nutshell, this was how I thought of my world if you had asked me nine years ago. But then…there was light! Without light, the darkness I was in would have no contrast as to what I share with you today.
I now have a different perspective, a different outlook, and a different viewpoint. I am just different. I am not the same person I was nine years ago. The secret to my success shouldn’t be a secret, and if you don’t know, then open up your heart for this message. The success I am referring to is the redemption and salvation I found which changed my life.
The longer we live “of this world” the shorter life we have left to truly live.
I don’t need to tell anyone that this world is tough on a person. We all are tested in life all the time and in every aspect of our lives. The older we get, the more tests we endure. The thing about a life test is that it isn’t pass or fail, it is about learning and growing. We can endure life tests without the Holy Spirit and rely on our own understanding, or we can open our hearts to Jesus Christ so that we can embrace a life test in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the choice that everyone can make when presented with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By accepting and believing in Jesus Christ, you are immediately indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit. Life giving power by the Spirit is the difference between enduring life’s tests without guidance; like trying to find something while lost in the dark and not knowing if you have chosen wisely. Contrast that unguided search to being guided in the Holy Spirit, where you have the power to gain strength, wisdom, and guidance in the light.
With the Spirit you also gain insight about life tests that you wouldn’t have otherwise. You learn from each test something about yourself and what needs to be improved, and through prayer and by the power of God through Jesus Christ, you can change and make better any part of your life that keeps you from experiencing joy out of this life. One of my biggest challenges that I have greatly improved on is having patients. God has shown me how to develop patients. In fact, one of the spiritual fruits of God is patients. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” You know you are allowing the Holy Spirit to work in you when you gain greater patients.
Patience is a key to enduring during and after being tested. God gives wisdom to those in Christ who faithfully ask (James 1:5-6) so that through God’s wisdom we have better depth of understanding to learn from our past, be it a wrong decision or a continuing struggle. We can learn to recognize some of life’s challenges and tackle them with greater wisdom and patience and even learn to avoid some altogether. At times I have even thanked God for allowing me to go through a season of life that I knew was a struggle, because I knew God was working in me to improve me, to make me a better person in Christ Jesus. We all know there are seasons in life that we wish we could avoid or skip over or have never been through, and for those seasons, we can only put more trust in God. For me, it is always in looking back that I see how God worked in me and those around me. I once read and have seen for myself, at least the possibility, that what God is working in you or I – the fruit of that work may not be seen for years – or the impact of your encounters with others and ripples of those contacts may not be seen for years. It is like looking at a family tree. It starts with you but beyond yourself is a vast network of future Christians who have their roots in something you allowed the Holy Spirit to work through you. God is so much bigger than we can imagine and understand and the work He does through us, if we allow it, shapes our lives and the lives of those we touch.
We never fail the test, we hope to learn from it. The question is do you want to figure it out on your own, relying only on your own understanding and limited wisdom; or would you rather have help from God who loves you completely, who never leaves you alone in your struggle, and who is willing and able to give to you His Holy Spirit so that you can begin to grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom? It all starts with answering the door to your heart and allowing Jesus Christ to come into your life and if you are already a believer in Jesus Christ, then allow Jesus to show you His way. Pray for Jesus to show you His way and He will do it as lovingly as possible, at your pace. Everyone is different, and Jesus knows you right now as you are and loves you just as much now as ever, and He wants to show you a better way of living in this world while belonging to another world in Heaven. I hope you chose to let go of managing your own struggles, and ask Jesus to do it for you. This is how you begin to learn from your mistakes. This is how we pass the test.
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