Thoughts...

I had the privilege of attending a Bible study for women again last night. The topic was "Sanctified & Satisfied in Suffering" taught by Dawn Washington. I walked away with a page full of notes scribbled front and back after having my toes stepped on. I am telling you, you would think the speaker had been a fly on my bedroom wall the night before!

Here are some thoughts I am pondering over...

• Forgetting to have faith and worrying in the midst of a storm is sin.
• Wasting the grace God provides for us in the midst of suffering is senseless.
• We often think, "If God would have just given me a warning that this storm was coming (be it death, disease or depressing circumstances), I could have been more prepared." Truth is, we have been warned! John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
• Suffering is not optional - it is part of the believer's life.
• I shouldn't look at a suffering day as a bad day. In God's eyes it is a productive day. Productive because it prayerfully got me to spend more time with Him in prayer, in His Word, and meditating on His promises!
• God is sanctifying me through His love and peace - not His wrath. He is not out to hurt me, but to heal me from my own sin sickness. This should change my view of suffering. He will sanctify me by whatever means He deems necessary, whether I like it or not. I cannot stop God from making me better! (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
• Sometimes God is waiting to see how long I will wallow before pressing the reset button in my mind and get back to walking in faith. Faith is looking at the reality of my circumstances and still choosing to believe God.
• When I am struggling, do I look like a woman who has been sucking on lemons, or like one at peace with God regardless of my circumstances?
• Sometimes God sanctifies us by those closest to us - not the people we could care less about! We value the words of those we love and as women, we record them in our minds, rewind and play them over and over, then begin to nurse negativity, which gives way to nursing a low self esteem, questioning ourselves and our worth (ouch!).
• Don't wait until you get to the other side of suffering to decide to have joy. Don't miss what God wants to show you in the midst of it. James 1:2-4 says to count it all joy. It doesn't say anything about waiting til later.

Psalm119:71 says, It was good that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your law." Sanctification through suffering is a good thing.