May 25, 2019
By Li Tong
Can Material Grace Help Us Grow in Our Lives?
Oftentimes, we lack understanding of God’s good intentions, and hope that things go as we wish them to. We are particularly unwilling to undergo trials and refinement. Instead, we hope for an entirely peaceful life without any catastrophes in our lives or our loved ones’ lives. We want everything to go smoothly, and to enjoy God’s blessings and grace. But do we ever consider whether a comfortable environment can allow us to cast off our corrupt dispositions? Can material blessings really help us know God’s disposition and being? If we only enjoy His mercy and grace, can that increase our faith in Him and allow us to develop true love for and submission to God? God’s words say, “If you only enjoy the grace of God, with a peaceful family life or material blessings, then you have not gained God, and your belief in God has failed. God has already carried out one stage of the work of grace in the flesh, and has already bestowed material blessings upon man—but man cannot be made perfect with grace, love, and mercy alone. In man’s experiences he encounters some of God’s love, and sees the love and mercy of God, yet having experienced for a period of time, he sees that God’s grace and His love and mercy are incapable of making man perfect, and incapable of revealing that which is corrupt within man, nor are they able to rid man of his corrupt disposition, or make perfect his love and faith. God’s work of grace was the work of one period, and man cannot rely on enjoying the grace of God in order to know God” (“Only by Experiencing Painful Trials Can You Know the Loveliness of God”).
God’s words are crystal clear. If we’re just focused on enjoying God’s mercy and grace, not only will we be unable to be freed from our corrupt dispositions, but we won’t grow in our lives, nor will our faith, love, and obedience possibly be perfected. The Bible says, “The prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Proverbs 1:32). If we live constantly within a comfortable environment without any trials or refinement, our hearts will gradually grow distant from God and we’ll be very likely to become depraved as a result of our greed for creature comforts. We’ll live within our corrupt dispositions with our bellies full of food and our minds empty of worries, ultimately accomplishing nothing, frittering away our lives. It’s just like being a parent—if you always coddle your child and are forgiving and tolerant no matter what they do wrong, at what point will that child be able to change their negative traits and mature? So, a comfortable environment is not at all beneficial for our growth in life; on the contrary, it will make us greedier and greedier for enjoyments of the flesh and we’ll just constantly demand God’s grace and blessings, becoming ever-more selfish, greedy, evil, and deceitful. If we want to escape from our corrupt disposition and become people in accord with God’s will, we cannot be content with basking in God’s grace and blessings and believing in God in a comfortable environment, but we must also go through more trials and refinement. That is the only way we can get rid of our corrupt dispositions and be cleansed by God.
God’s words say, “When you face sufferings you must be able to not consider the flesh and not complain against God. When God hides Himself from you, you must be able to have the faith to follow Him, to maintain your previous love without allowing it to falter or disappear. No matter what God does, you must submit to His design, and be more willing to curse your own flesh than to complain against Him. When you are faced with trials you must satisfy God in spite of any reluctance to part with something you love, or bitter weeping. Only this can be called true love and faith. No matter what your actual stature is, you must first possess the will to suffer hardship as well as true faith, and you must have the will to forsake the flesh. You should be willing to personally endure hardships and suffer losses to your personal interests in order to satisfy God’s will. You must also have a heart of regretting yourself, that you weren’t able to satisfy God in the past, and be able to regret yourself now. Not a single one of these can be lacking and God will perfect you through these things. If you lack these conditions, you cannot be perfected” (“Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement”).
God’s words give us a path of practice. When we encounter hardships, our attitude toward God’s work is critical and is directly related to whether we’ll be able to stand witness for God, and be purified and saved by Him. If we rely on corrupt satanic dispositions and are greedy for fleshly comforts through trials and refinement, always considering and planning for the sake of our own interests, we will very likely develop complaints about God; we’ll fight against and oppose Him, or even do things to rebel against or resist God. Then we are a laughingstock for Satan and we entirely lose our testimony. But if we are able to accept and submit to God’s work through hardships, and seek God’s will and requirements of us within them, if we can forsake the flesh and put the truth into practice, preferring to suffer in the flesh and stand witness for God, if we can experience these environments with love for God and a desire to satisfy Him, then we’ll be able to understand more truths through these trials, our corrupt dispositions can be cleansed by God, and we can become people who are in accord with God’s will.
Not long ago some troubles cropped up in my family—my husband lost his supplier for our business, my kid was having difficulties at work, and there were constant problems in business. I was really upset and depressed and I just couldn’t stop myself from grumbling to God. I felt that I spent every day working hard for God, hitting the streets to share the gospel and expending myself, so why would these things be happening in my family? How come God did not protect my family? Over that period of time, I spent less time reading the Scripture and even though I continued attending gatherings and working, my heart was always full of bitterness and I didn’t know what God’s will for me was in that environment.
Then, I prayed to God in seeking, and read these words from Him: “How many believe in Me only so that I might heal them? How many believe in Me only so that I might use My powers to drive unclean spirits out from their bodies? And how many believe in Me simply to receive peace and joy from Me? How many believe in Me only to demand from Me greater material wealth? How many believe in Me just to spend this life in peace and to be safe and sound in the world to come? How many believe in Me to avoid the suffering of hell and to receive the blessings of heaven? How many believe in Me only for temporary comfort but do not seek to gain anything in the world to come? When I brought down My fury upon man and seized all the joy and peace he once possessed, man became doubtful. When I gave unto man the suffering of hell and reclaimed the blessings of heaven, man’s shame turned into anger. When man asked Me to heal him, I paid him no heed and felt abhorrence toward him; man departed from Me to instead seek the way of evil medicine and sorcery. When I took away all that man had demanded from Me, everyone disappeared without a trace. Thus, I say that man has faith in Me because I give too much grace, and there is far too much to gain.” (“What Do You Know of Faith?”).
I couldn’t help but weep as I read God’s words—I was gutted and felt pained, as well as embarrassed. I saw that my perspective on faith was all wrong, and that it was just to seek blessings and grace. When God blessed me, I enthusiastically went out and shared the gospel and expended myself and feared neither difficulties nor exhaustion. But when difficulties cropped up in my family, I started living in weakness and negativity, developing complaints about God and blaming Him for not protecting my family. I put up a wall against God in my heart. I had to do some soul-searching, asking myself, “My hard work isn’t to repay God’s love but is just in exchange for God’s blessings—isn’t that conducting a transaction with God? How could that kind of faith—full of incorrect motivations and adulteration—gain God’s approval? I was constantly breathing in the very breath of God, enjoying the sun and rain that He created, and living off of the bounties of the earth made by Him, but I had no thoughts of repaying God for anything. Instead, I just made constant demands of God. Isn’t that completely lacking in reason?” Only then did I see how despicable and contemptible that kind of faith in God is—I absolutely was not standing in the position of a created being in worship of God. I also came to understand that in order to be obedient to God, I had to first stand in the position of a created being, and no matter what the Creator does, whether He gives or takes away, I had to obey and submit without arguing my case. Only that is the kind of reason that a created being should possess. Once I understood that I resolved to God that no matter what happened in my husband’s or my son’s work situations, I would be willing to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements and not complain about God. Once I realized all of this I felt much freer and gradually came out of my negative state. I was no longer disturbed or constrained by these issues, but was able to calmly work and expend myself for the Lord.
This experience really showed me how incredibly beneficial trials and refinement are for our growth in life. Even though we suffer a bit through them, we reap very precious treasures in life, and our faith and love for God grow. I’m sure that all brothers and sisters who seek to gain God’s approval now understand God’s earnest intentions and no longer hold misunderstandings of Him, and that they’ll be able to face any hardships, unperturbed. In whatever trials or undesirable things we face in the future, may we quiet ourselves before God and seek His will and seek the truth. This way we can experience the blessings brought to us by God through trials and refinement! Thanks be to God!
from The Church of Almighty God
No comments:
Post a Comment