#9 | Many Are The Afflictions Of The Righteous | I Will Not Settle - Series
Psalm 34:19 “ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them.”
When we think of living a righteous life, as children of the Most High God, we may not think of suffering as a part of that living or serving.
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”.
Many of us are having to go through some difficult situations and challenges in this season. I know I have…. and I want to write this as I believe God wants to encourage us by what He says about this season we are in. One with sickness, injuries, financial issues, family challenges, loss of people in our lives and more….
So for me I want to read the Word for understanding His will for us in this area of following and serving Him in the challenges and sufferings.
We seek His face for His will, we long to follow Him and His ways but can we accept the walk of suffering for His name sake as Paul wrote in Phil 1:29?
Do we understand it’s a time we will all go through, and know and accept there’s a purpose for these times. I have found myself up and down in it some days. I’m just being transparent. But I choose to submit to His plan for me in the journey anyway. And to talk with Him about how I am doing in it from time to time. We can do that because He is our ABBA Father and He’s a listener. He knows how we feel and the difficult moments we face going through the journey.
I have felt very isolated and in exile myself throughout my journeys in my life.
Right now I am not yet able to see well and this has not allowed me to drive for a few weeks now. Some days are ok - just ok - and other days there has been too much blur to feel comfortable to drive. So being confined to my apartment reminded me of apostle John on Patmos Isle. How did he survive on that island totally by himself (with only convicts and Roman guards living there)?
As I usually do when I write, I researched about John being sent to the isle to glean what his circumstances were like.
He was exiled there because he was preaching the Gospel.
So they persecuted him and sent him to this isle that was meant for criminals and political prisoners. Convicts were allowed some freedom around the small isle but they had to provide their own food and shelter. They were supervised by Roman soldiers from leaving the isle. Many died from exposure, violent attacks by other convicts, or starvation.
John survived because his friends in Ephesus sent him food and supplies. He was suffering and living in the patience of Jesus Christ - not his own. Patmos was no picnic. He was subject to wicked taunts of evil, Christ-rejecting men, men in authority who sent him to Patmos to suffer because he spoke truth to them directly through his preaching of the Word of God!
God saw John there and entrusted him with important prophecies. John wrote the book of Revelation on this Isle in his isolation and being alone.
His friends were gone and no family members were around him. A very isolated existence for John but look what was accomplished? He wrote the Book of Revelation, because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1:9). We can read it today and be encouraged by the power of the Holy Spirit who inspired him with every Word, and the messages and visions he was sent relating to end times.
He was exiled by the world, but not forsaken by God.
When we are in a place where we find ourselves alone what do we do? It’s a place where the quiet calls us. It allows us to turn to “the call” He gave us before we were born. We can hear His voice much more clearly when all is “turned off” in our places of living. And what’s produced in our lives is growth, maturity and a continuous work in fulfilling our purpose we have been called to by our Lord. We too can find hope and can continue to worship and serve in spite of our circumstances.
Most of my life has been one that I’ve traveled alone. A small amount of time in my life I did have a small family life. But the majority of my life I walked alone.
It’s also a “call” for some of us to walk alone. I believe Paul was called to that walk as well. But interestingly, if we are called to that “single walk”, we have a peace and a strength for it that only He provides. He knows…..
When I was a young girl I started playing my violin. There was a song I couldn’t get out of my head. And I learned how to play it on my violin. It was a song I still listen to and love, to this day.
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark, At the end of the storm there’s a golden sky, and the sweet golden sound of a lark, Walk on through the rain, walk on through the wind, Though your dreams be tossed and blown, walk on walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone….You’ll never walk alone.”
I was always moved by these words - even before I knew Jesus, long before I received Him as my Lord and Savior. It’s a beautiful song and brings us hope… He is our Hope!!
I went on to play my violin with the Utica Symphony Orchestra when I was 24 years old, and once I became a believer I could worship in my Church with the worship team.
What an honor to do that for our King!!
So even in adversity we can live in the Spirit. John was shipped out to Patmos Isle against his will as a result of a decision from unbelieving governmental authorities. They sent him there to get him “out of the way”, and to teach him a lesson as to who has the last say. Their authority did not realize or recognize the higher, greater authority of God in a Christian believer's life!
Even on this beautiful but unfruitful island, there was hope for John. Whenever we are on an Island as John was, we too can have hope, and continue to worship and serve God in that place in spite of our circumstances. God holds all the answers for our struggles, challenges and problems. He holds our future firmly in His Hand! We can trust Him! Psalm 54:6 “I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We are not thanking Him for the struggles, but in our struggles we can still thank Him, for who He is, and His answers to come. He is preparing us for our purpose and to be able to move into our destiny ultimately. We all need His training and preparation to accomplish what we are living here for. If we have an eternal perspective, we will accept that and embrace the preparation He brings us to and through.
Anything good is worth fighting for and worth the sacrifice it may take to have it. This is not our “home” - eternity is our home, and we are foreigners here in this time. So it’s no wonder we struggle to go forward when He calls us to. Our home is heaven and His ways are not of this world.
We belong to Him, we are not our own. We will not be trained for His work by being and living in this world. Only by the preparation He brings us will be heavenly minded and of use for our eternal life. Our character needs reforming and transforming to be able to handle our next season. It’s uncomfortable for sure because of the resistance we face. But if we will rest in Him in the transitions of this life, we will be equipped by Him in the training process. It will allow us the growth we need to have, to meet the next season's challenges and purpose with victory. So we need to ask Him “ what are You wanting to teach me in this Isle of Patmos experience Lord? He’s always teaching us in our experiences, we just need to surrender to His ways even when we don’t understand any of it.
This story of John at Patmos is a huge lesson for us that we can learn from. John turned the negative circumstances and that foreign island to continue his relationship with Jesus and Holy Spirit. What man had done to break (and destroy) John’s heart and faith, was turned by God into victory in Jesus!! John received revelation of Jesus Christ and has impacted the world forever by his writing the Book of Revelation. This Book lives on today, speaking to and challenging lives all over the globe.
We can rise above our own trials and testings in life by yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit. John 16:33.”these things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”.
Now I don’t know about you and how you might respond to this scripture, but it’s not an easy one to “put on”. I have to choose to do that and to pray as Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”; 7: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ”.
I need to feed my spirit continuously when I am at my “Patmos Isle”. Praying. Praising, and reading God's Word is the only way I can get victory!! It’s a choice. It’s not just going to happen. We have to do it all God's Way. He has all the plans and answers. I know I cannot listen to my feelings in these times. They will only lead me astray. I need to listen to the Holy Spirit even when I do not understand any of it.
Philippians 1:12 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.”
In summary we may have no real knowledge of what impact our hour(s) of suffering will produce for furtherance of the gospel or the extension of God's kingdom, and for His glory. How it may encourage other believers to continue to hope and persevere in their own journeys, and sufferings. There’s a purpose for everything God allows in our lives. He wastes nothing.
So I needed this message to encourage myself today, and I pray it will also give you hope and knowledge to continue in your own troubles/sufferings/ and challenges in running your own race. We will overcome by the Word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb!!!
Blessings,
Lucy Barretta
The On God Blog
When we think of living a righteous life, as children of the Most High God, we may not think of suffering as a part of that living or serving.
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”.
Many of us are having to go through some difficult situations and challenges in this season. I know I have…. and I want to write this as I believe God wants to encourage us by what He says about this season we are in. One with sickness, injuries, financial issues, family challenges, loss of people in our lives and more….
So for me I want to read the Word for understanding His will for us in this area of following and serving Him in the challenges and sufferings.
We seek His face for His will, we long to follow Him and His ways but can we accept the walk of suffering for His name sake as Paul wrote in Phil 1:29?
Do we understand it’s a time we will all go through, and know and accept there’s a purpose for these times. I have found myself up and down in it some days. I’m just being transparent. But I choose to submit to His plan for me in the journey anyway. And to talk with Him about how I am doing in it from time to time. We can do that because He is our ABBA Father and He’s a listener. He knows how we feel and the difficult moments we face going through the journey.
I have felt very isolated and in exile myself throughout my journeys in my life.
Right now I am not yet able to see well and this has not allowed me to drive for a few weeks now. Some days are ok - just ok - and other days there has been too much blur to feel comfortable to drive. So being confined to my apartment reminded me of apostle John on Patmos Isle. How did he survive on that island totally by himself (with only convicts and Roman guards living there)?
As I usually do when I write, I researched about John being sent to the isle to glean what his circumstances were like.
He was exiled there because he was preaching the Gospel.
So they persecuted him and sent him to this isle that was meant for criminals and political prisoners. Convicts were allowed some freedom around the small isle but they had to provide their own food and shelter. They were supervised by Roman soldiers from leaving the isle. Many died from exposure, violent attacks by other convicts, or starvation.
John survived because his friends in Ephesus sent him food and supplies. He was suffering and living in the patience of Jesus Christ - not his own. Patmos was no picnic. He was subject to wicked taunts of evil, Christ-rejecting men, men in authority who sent him to Patmos to suffer because he spoke truth to them directly through his preaching of the Word of God!
God saw John there and entrusted him with important prophecies. John wrote the book of Revelation on this Isle in his isolation and being alone.
His friends were gone and no family members were around him. A very isolated existence for John but look what was accomplished? He wrote the Book of Revelation, because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1:9). We can read it today and be encouraged by the power of the Holy Spirit who inspired him with every Word, and the messages and visions he was sent relating to end times.
He was exiled by the world, but not forsaken by God.
When we are in a place where we find ourselves alone what do we do? It’s a place where the quiet calls us. It allows us to turn to “the call” He gave us before we were born. We can hear His voice much more clearly when all is “turned off” in our places of living. And what’s produced in our lives is growth, maturity and a continuous work in fulfilling our purpose we have been called to by our Lord. We too can find hope and can continue to worship and serve in spite of our circumstances.
Most of my life has been one that I’ve traveled alone. A small amount of time in my life I did have a small family life. But the majority of my life I walked alone.
It’s also a “call” for some of us to walk alone. I believe Paul was called to that walk as well. But interestingly, if we are called to that “single walk”, we have a peace and a strength for it that only He provides. He knows…..
When I was a young girl I started playing my violin. There was a song I couldn’t get out of my head. And I learned how to play it on my violin. It was a song I still listen to and love, to this day.
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark, At the end of the storm there’s a golden sky, and the sweet golden sound of a lark, Walk on through the rain, walk on through the wind, Though your dreams be tossed and blown, walk on walk on with hope in your heart and you’ll never walk alone….You’ll never walk alone.”
I was always moved by these words - even before I knew Jesus, long before I received Him as my Lord and Savior. It’s a beautiful song and brings us hope… He is our Hope!!
I went on to play my violin with the Utica Symphony Orchestra when I was 24 years old, and once I became a believer I could worship in my Church with the worship team.
What an honor to do that for our King!!
So even in adversity we can live in the Spirit. John was shipped out to Patmos Isle against his will as a result of a decision from unbelieving governmental authorities. They sent him there to get him “out of the way”, and to teach him a lesson as to who has the last say. Their authority did not realize or recognize the higher, greater authority of God in a Christian believer's life!
Even on this beautiful but unfruitful island, there was hope for John. Whenever we are on an Island as John was, we too can have hope, and continue to worship and serve God in that place in spite of our circumstances. God holds all the answers for our struggles, challenges and problems. He holds our future firmly in His Hand! We can trust Him! Psalm 54:6 “I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We are not thanking Him for the struggles, but in our struggles we can still thank Him, for who He is, and His answers to come. He is preparing us for our purpose and to be able to move into our destiny ultimately. We all need His training and preparation to accomplish what we are living here for. If we have an eternal perspective, we will accept that and embrace the preparation He brings us to and through.
Anything good is worth fighting for and worth the sacrifice it may take to have it. This is not our “home” - eternity is our home, and we are foreigners here in this time. So it’s no wonder we struggle to go forward when He calls us to. Our home is heaven and His ways are not of this world.
We belong to Him, we are not our own. We will not be trained for His work by being and living in this world. Only by the preparation He brings us will be heavenly minded and of use for our eternal life. Our character needs reforming and transforming to be able to handle our next season. It’s uncomfortable for sure because of the resistance we face. But if we will rest in Him in the transitions of this life, we will be equipped by Him in the training process. It will allow us the growth we need to have, to meet the next season's challenges and purpose with victory. So we need to ask Him “ what are You wanting to teach me in this Isle of Patmos experience Lord? He’s always teaching us in our experiences, we just need to surrender to His ways even when we don’t understand any of it.
This story of John at Patmos is a huge lesson for us that we can learn from. John turned the negative circumstances and that foreign island to continue his relationship with Jesus and Holy Spirit. What man had done to break (and destroy) John’s heart and faith, was turned by God into victory in Jesus!! John received revelation of Jesus Christ and has impacted the world forever by his writing the Book of Revelation. This Book lives on today, speaking to and challenging lives all over the globe.
We can rise above our own trials and testings in life by yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit. John 16:33.”these things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”.
Now I don’t know about you and how you might respond to this scripture, but it’s not an easy one to “put on”. I have to choose to do that and to pray as Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”; 7: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ”.
I need to feed my spirit continuously when I am at my “Patmos Isle”. Praying. Praising, and reading God's Word is the only way I can get victory!! It’s a choice. It’s not just going to happen. We have to do it all God's Way. He has all the plans and answers. I know I cannot listen to my feelings in these times. They will only lead me astray. I need to listen to the Holy Spirit even when I do not understand any of it.
Philippians 1:12 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.”
In summary we may have no real knowledge of what impact our hour(s) of suffering will produce for furtherance of the gospel or the extension of God's kingdom, and for His glory. How it may encourage other believers to continue to hope and persevere in their own journeys, and sufferings. There’s a purpose for everything God allows in our lives. He wastes nothing.
So I needed this message to encourage myself today, and I pray it will also give you hope and knowledge to continue in your own troubles/sufferings/ and challenges in running your own race. We will overcome by the Word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb!!!
Blessings,
Lucy Barretta
The On God Blog
Posted in I Will Not Settle