Excerpts from Battle Cry Good vs. Evil
Chapter 14: God Is Love
Life as we know it is not always a bowl of cherries, or a walk in the park. It can be very challenging, because we don’t know what’s around the corner. In a split second we could encounter calamity, misfortune, hardship, or disaster that can result in pain, suffering, and sadness. We must learn to depend on God and trust Him to love us through the challenging times of our life. By the strength of God, we can persevere and come out on the other side stronger. When times are good, we need to stop and enjoy every moment and thank God for His blessings. When times are not so good, we need to lean on God, to help us through the pain, suffering, and sadness.
Philippians 1:29 (NLT) says, “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.” Suffering a privilege? When we encounter hardships, pain and suffering, do we think of it as a privilege? But as Christ suffered for us, we must suffer for Christ. Our pain and suffering connects us to His pain and suffering. He hung on a cross and died a slow agonizing death as if He had committed unpardonable sins. This should have been our destiny, our cross to bear, not His. Yet He took our place. He took the burden of our sin, because God is love. So as we suffer, we should always be reminded of how God suffered for us, because He loves us. When we suffer, Satan wants us to embrace the darkness, but God wants us to embrace the Light. God is the difference between the darkness and the Light.
Yes, even in our suffering we can find joy. First Peter 1:6–7 (NLT) says, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.
Author’s comments: As we face the many trials in our life, what does it reveal about our faith? Embracing the darkness causes us to lose faith, resulting in sadness, depression, and the feeling of hopelessness. Embracing the Light helps us to endure and persevere through the trials, which keeps us hopeful. How we respond to the trials in our lives reveals the Truth about our faith.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out; Bruce would love to help you grow in your spiritual journey! To contact Bruce personally, go to battlecrygoodvsevil.com. Battle Cry Good vs. Evil is available in paperback or eBook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. To get the weekly blogs, be sure to “like” and “follow” Battle Cry on Facebook.