Trials are going to come into our lives. We can go through them in one of two ways: with God or without God. If we go through our trials with God we can learn whatever it is that God is trying to teach us. When we escape a trial prematurely, we will have to repeat it in order to learn and grow. When we go through these, we should be careful regarding who we allow to come alongside us. Job had friends who continued to tell him that he was in sin and that his sins brought the trials on him. These men were projecting their own inward thoughts and feelings onto him – they felt condemned for their own sins so naturally they assumed Job was also a sinner. Having people like Job’s friends in our lives will not contribute to us walking in the abundant life – they will hamper our ability to walk in God’s will.
The greatness of God is beyond our comprehension. He laid the foundations of the earth, set the boundaries of the seas, created every star in the universe, and yet He cares for us. He is interested in our lives and our trials. He desires for us to have the abundant life. He cared enough about us that He came down to earth Himself in the form of Jesus to bring us that life.
If we want to live God’s abundant life something has to change. God will not change, leaving us as the ones who must change. We need to stop conforming to this world but instead allow the Word to transform our minds. We must learn to love what God loves and hate what God hates. The life that God chose for us has a cost – laying down our own lives, thoughts and ideas. When we are born again, we have the Spirit of God in us. The Spirit gives us the means to walk in the abundant life – we need to make the choice to follow the Spirit.
Learn to trust the Lord with the most precious part of your life, whatever that may be. The abundant life means not carrying around those burdens and cares. Besides, we need to consider, how can we trust the Lord with our eternal souls if we can’t trust Him with the other elements of our earthly lives? Just because we have the Spirit of Christ in us, does not mean that we always walk in the Spirit. Having the Spirit does not guarantee that we are in the abundant life – we have to walk with Him.
Key Scriptures: Job 38:1-11, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 5:15-18
