“But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. 9. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, for there are many adversaries.”
Paul did not mean he was glad that he had trouble in Ephesus. What he meant was that his enemies would not keep him from doing what Christ was leading him to do in Ephesus. That should be our attitude toward trouble in our lives. We will all have troubles but we will not be effective if we let the troubles get in the way of our service. How we overcome life’s troubles will determine our effectiveness in life. It is in our troubles that God teaches us some valuable lessons. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our faith. Until our faith is tested, we do not really know how strong it is. The issue of faith is that we keep on keeping on in spite of our obstacles. If someone, or some circumstance, can keep us from serving the Lord, their influence is stronger than our faith. Let’s just say that our faith has to be tested in order to get the exercise that it needs to make it stronger. We don’t necessarily have to look for trouble, for it finds us sooner or later. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our patience. Understand that “patience” is not my middle name. One of our family jokes is that when they go out to eat with me, we need to “beat the crowd.” But in my service for the Lord, I have found that I have more patience than I knew I had. I didn’t know how much patience I had until I had to endure months and months of health problems. It was during this time that the Lord gave me the patience that I needed to wait on Him. There was no “beating the crowd.” I have also learned the same in encountering trouble in my ministry. Let’s just say that there are people who give you great joy in your service, and there are others who teach you to have patience and to wait on the Lord. Let your troubles teach you patience. Our troubles enable us to learn more about our love for Jesus. Peter learned this lesson the hard way. He thought that he would stand up for Jesus when they came to crucify Him, but he denied the Him three times when he had the chance to stand up for Him. But Peter’s real love for Jesus was proved after he went out and wept and repented, and no doubt, asked for forgiveness. His true love for Jesus was shown when he preached the great sermon in Acts 2, and when he continued to preach Jesus when told to stop preaching in His name. Our troubles can tell us how strong our love for Jesus is. It is not a question of whether or not you will face trouble, for it will come. The question is whether or not you will give in to them, or whether or not you will let them grow your faith, your patience and your love for Jesus. Think about it and march on. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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