"Suffering" Kathryn Kuhlman The Book of Job

If you've been following this ministry for some time, you've heard me say it not once, but literally hundreds of times, that no matter what your troubles are, as long as God is still on His throne, and His unanswered prayer, And just so long as your faith in him is still intact, everything will come out all right. Remember something. I do not just say those words. I believe that statement with every atom of my being. Trouble has a way of stalking down the road and meeting us so many times when we least expect it. And it may befall us without our being personally or even directly the cause of it. And many, many times, trouble is beyond our control. But we should remember that trouble, as well as the hours of sunshine, is a part of divine arrangement and has a place in our program, in our living, in our lives, in the shaping of our lives, in making character. Trouble and severe testings are not necessarily a sign of sin or of failure. or a lack of spirituality. I'm saying something today that I want you never to forget. Remember that very often, trouble is a sign of spirituality. It's a sign of growth, which God must test and prove, for never forget, we are His workmanship. The cruelest thing that anyone can do is to say when trouble and sorrow and affliction comes into the life of a Christian that is because of some sin in that life and that one is very quick to judge that one. Nothing could be farther from the truth. On the other hand, Many people have gotten the notion that the life of a Christian is or should be somewhat of a charmed life, void of trouble, void of testing, tribulation, and suffering. Such people have shaped up for themselves or they hold as an ideal of real Christian living an absolutely impossible and unscriptural conception as an objective. And where in the world such people have been living all of these years, I do not know. For surely they do not know history. They do not know Christian experience or the Bible. Because the Word of God teaches, man is born into trouble, and as the sparks fly upward, as found in Job, Here's another scripture. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Go a little further in the word. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Go a little deeper. Into the word, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's not all. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Jesus said, I have overcome the world. Don't stop there. Go to the fifth chapter of Romans. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. You know, as Christians, after we're convinced in our hearts that trouble is not designed to defeat us, is not a mere nuisance or a cruelty, but is one of the corrective elements in great living, then we must needs learn how to use it. And that's exactly what I want to talk about today. You and I must learn how to use trouble. How many problems would be solved and shipwrecks of faith be avoided? If only we could take a positive, a constructive attitude and see that trouble is one of the agents. Trouble can be a mighty instrument that's placed in our hands for the shaping of character and the releasing of potential power for correct and glorious building. Oh, trouble can literally be an angel in disguise. You never thought of it as such. How do you use trouble? How did you use that trouble when it came to you a year ago, six months ago, yesterday? Trouble is not to be reasoned with. You simply cannot reason with trouble. utterly unreasonable. She is to be used. Please disabuse your minds of the erroneous thought that if you are good or if you are a really spiritual Christian, totally yielded and consecrated, that your life is therefore to be a charmed one. and that God will spare you from trouble and from disappointment. No, my friend. To reach such a fine place of consecration and yieldedness is only to make you a fit candidate for tribulation. Tribulation is a word that God uses in relation to saints. And the word means threshing. The farmer does not thresh weeds. He threshes the golden wheat that the grain may be separated from the sticks and the stubble and the chafe. He's after grain. The farmer is after grain. The Heavenly Father is after grain. not trying to pound out some straw. Therefore, God says, tribulation worketh patience, that is, the golden grain of patience, long -suffering, and kindness comes by way of threshing our tribulation and trouble. Think the spendage spiritual grain of character and noble living produced only through the tribulation and trouble process. The spiritual tone and quality of the mighty men of God came only through trouble, came only through suffering. Ask Paul, one of the greatest examples of suffering and of trouble. Do not misunderstand me. I'm not saying that trouble alone makes us strong or noble, or that it alone has a transforming power. That's not what I'm saying. I'm dealing with you as Christians who believe the 8th chapter of Romans, the 28th verse. And that text, as you see it, is never to be applied to lives which are not surrendered. That's why many unsaved people never quite understand the outworking of the Scriptures in the daily walk. But if the Christian has anything remotely opposing the Spirit of Christ, he can make trouble a servant to bring forth the best in him. Beloved, be careful how you act when trouble comes. Trouble in itself is neutral or passive. The whole matter depends upon how we use it. It makes all the difference in the world as to how you use trouble. trouble when it comes into that life of yours. And if you are a part of humanity, you will have trouble. I don't care who you are. You will have trouble. And the whole matter depends on how you use that trouble. You've noticed in lives a Two -fold reaction to trouble or tragedy. Either it will break us in spirit, melting the hardness and bringing us into our helplessness to God. It can make us a bigger, a better person. Or it'll throw us upon our own feeble resources and human reasonings. And I told you a minute ago, trouble cannot be reasoned with. And if you throw that trouble upon your own feeble resources and human reasonings, this in turn will harden you in spirit. It'll make you critical and often cynical. And I meet folk like that every day of my life. It robs the heart of the great privilege of trusting God and the developing of the life into rich and helpful avenues. Be careful how you act when trouble comes. You've got to face it. You have to do something about it. You can't just sweep it under the rug. and act as though it never happened. It'll either make you a cynical person, a bitter person, or it will mean a growth in character and a deeper spiritual life. Trouble will either make you bitter or better. You're never quite the same. No person can ever be the same. When trouble comes into his life, it will either make you bitter or better. And notice how very much alike these words are and how very little is needed to change them. Just... The letter I. Yes, it is the I that changes the whole matter. When the I keeps out of the question, out of the difficulty, life would be better. But when the I is introduced and we get mixed in the troubled life, we become bitter. We become hard. We become critical. We become cynical. Too many times his eye gets in the way. The poor little hurt eagle gets a slap, and down the street he runs, screaming for attention. The dear little eagle sits in his doorway and weeps tears of self -pity. until his eyes are so red and inflamed that he just cannot see things as they are or should be. It takes a quiet heart, peace of spirit, and clear vision, and a long rain. Remember that long range. You and I are not living just for today. We're not living for just this hour. We must have a clear vision, a long range to interpret trouble in terms of strength and high living. Little souls, small people, are usually hurt all the time. They get their feelings hurt almost instantly with the smallest things. Little souls. Undeveloped souls. Small people get hurt. Easily. The ego within is unduly important and consequently is easily hurt or flattered. Such souls had too small a world in which they're living. Oh, their world is so small. They must have everything revolving around them. And hence everything relates directly to the self within. though if you will please, one of the greatest examples I know anything about was Job. Do you want to see a really big man? How do I know? Because the Word of God tells us that Job was perfect and upright and one that feared God and hated evil. Read it yourself. It'll do you good. His cattle were rustled by cattle rustlers. Talk about trouble, and you think you've had trouble. His horses were stolen by horse thieves. His cowboys were killed by the rustlers. His sheep were struck by lightning, and his shepherds were all killed, all but one. His camels were stolen and all the keepers were killed except just one. And you think you've had trouble. His sons and daughters were all killed by a cyclone. Job rent his garments, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshipped. This is the word of God. This is a man with like passions as you. I'm amazed. I am awed. In the light of all of this, I wonder if I really trust God the way I should. I wonder what I would have done under those circumstances. After all of this happened, the word said he rent his garments, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshipped. He sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Nor charged God foolishly, but worshipped him. Was that all? No. His body was covered with ulcers like boils, and he sat in ashes to soak up the secretion. And then of all things, here comes his wife. Of all things, his wife. And do you know what she said? Why do you hold on to your faith? Curse God and die. Just go ahead. Curse God and die. Go ahead. Go ahead. Die. And then the last thing. His friends rebuked him and forsook him. What would you have done under those circumstances? It was dark. It was very dark. But always remember that as sure as there's the midnight hour, morning will come. It can be so dark at three o 'clock. It can be so dark at four o 'clock. But remember, hold on. Morning will come. Morning always comes, and morning came for Job. Finish the book, if you will, please, at 42nd chapter and the 10th verse. He was blessed with twice what he had before. Be careful how you act. when troubles come. Be careful. When troubles come, that, my friend, is the time to trust God, the one who never makes a mistake.