One of the things that we come to understand early on is that God’s way is not our way.

Well … at least we should come to understand this … because our faith stability is at risk until we come into the full knowledge of this reality.

There are classic tensions that reveal this to us … realities that we are all keenly aware of … to be great we must become a servant, to succeed we must surrender, and to be first, we make ourselves last.

These are some of the well-known realities of His “upside-down” Kingdom.

Then there are lesser-known realities … and these tend to be more challenging, come to us at greater cost and have the potential to change our depth and destiny.

Here is one of those for us to consider …

Moments Of Great Celebration Are Often Tempered By A Great Concern … This Is A Great Truth That We Must Take On

We know that in the midst of God’s divine blessing we will encounter disastrous conflict and devilish challenges. These realities come as a full assault against us and we know that we are in a real spiritual battle.

However, we also need to prepare ourselves for moments of “disabling concern.”

These are the things that distract our focus, trouble our hearts, and have the potential to rob us of the true spiritual fulfillment that God intends for us.

They can seem less aggressive … but they tend to linger, leave us with a long-term struggle and provoke a sense of suffering.

Moments Of Great Celebration Are Often Tempered By A Great Concern … This Is A Great Truth That We Must Take On

The truth is that spiritual discipline is worked into our lives by this reality.

These things come our way to refine our faith and to re-establish our faltering steps … and our spiritual position.

They produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.

These are the exact words of Romans 5:3-4, ” Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces endurance; endurance character; and character, hope.”

This is clearly the mandate of the Father and thus it has become the mission of Christ … and the Holy Spirit supernaturally moves us in this direction.”

Derwin L. Gray says it this way in his article, “How Can We Have Hope When Everything Looks Hopeless?

“When we go through suffering, we often pray and seek God more intensely than at other times. My greatest times of growth have been when I’ve reached the end of my resources and all I have left is Jesus. God uses suffering to make us rely on his presence, to fortify our faith, and to prove our perseverance … all of this will allow us to stay the course and to stay on mission … to take our stand … no turning back!”

It is clear that great things are revealed and released into my life when I take all of this on!

Moments Of Great Celebration Are Often Tempered By A Great Concern … This Is A Great Truth That We Must Take On

I know this is a challenge for all of us … but in the end … if we stay with Him … we win!

Knowing how hard it is to take this on … I still want us to say yes!!

I am in … and you!!

-Terry-