Morning Devotional

September  25, 2005
"Ouch!" (Part 1)     
    by Don Emmitte

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O our God, won't you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do. (2 Chronicles 20:12a NLT).

Having just finished a series on submission to the hand of God (“The Potter’s Shop” available at www.GraceRestoration.org), I thought it would be interesting to look at the trials we face each day. So many people have come to believe that when you are surrendered to God and walking with him that you are exempt from trials. That simply is not the case. Please believe me when I tell you that this series is not born out of an academic study of the concept of pain and suffering. The year of 2005 has been one of the most difficult Mary and I have faced. I don’t know what I would have done without her encouragement and strength. So many things have been a challenge to us this year. And all of them in the face of knowing that we are doing precisely what God has led us to do! So, from one pilgrim to another let’s look at trials!

If you are breathing then you have an idea what the word “trials” means. Each of us experience trials throughout our life. We will look at what trials are, why we have them, and what impact they have on us. It is important with any devotional study like this to properly define the word with which we are working. A trial could refer to a courtroom experience. Some of you know that experience and it could easily fit into the following definition as well. For this series the Dictionary.com definition we are using is “A state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief”. Nelson’s Bible Dictionary defines trial like this: “A temptation or an adversity, the enduring of which proves the merit of an individual's faith. For the Christian, to encounter adversity is to undergo a trial in which his faith is proved either true or false before God, the highest judge.”

Today’s Scripture verse helps us define trials even further, or at least should help us understand how we feel while in a trial. The Israelites found themselves, once again, in a predicament; a trial. They faced an army bigger than them. They didn’t know what to do? With all their military experience, even considering all the “trials” they had seen before, they came upon a new event in their life where they literally didn’t know what to do. They were afraid, felt inadequate, and needed help. That’s a trial.

Their first response was the correct response. They said, “We don’t know what to do.” How often have we stumbled along and not been able to admit that we had come to the end of our resources. So much of the time I keep traveling down the path of pain thinking that if I just try a little harder, certainly I’ll be able to overcome. The truth is that until we reach the end of ourselves, we cannot reach the beginning of God. So start there. Admit that you’re at the end of yourself. Once you’ve done that, stay tuned and we’ll discover more truth to face the trials of life from God’s Word.