
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Hi all, I decided to write about trials today because I have been going through one for some time now. My trial has been the same one, off and on, for many years now and because it involves other people and the way I react and act around them I had decided to keep it to myself with the exception of a few close friends.
This post will still not speak about the problem only about the lessons I am learning in the problem.
Lesson number one; my understanding of a word or phrase does not mean others understand it the same way. What I mean is our backgrounds and upbringing as well as our values will create for us a "dictionary" of sorts and if my dictionary is different than yours we may end up in conflict while we are saying the same thing. If someone gives offense it would do me well to stop and try to clarify what is being said. Nicodemus coming to Jesus and asking about what he was teaching is a good example, ( John 3).
Lesson number two; when values are different and there isn't mutual respect for those values there will be conflict. Can we agree to disagree on the issue at hand, agreeably, is the main question here?
Lesson number three; not all conflict or lessons are for me but I can learn something from them.
Lesson number four; Some lessons are not to teach me about myself but rather to test my commitment and demonstrate God's greatness. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's trial is a truly awesome example of this kind of trial,( read Daniel: 3).
Trials, while uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful (ask Job) are there for us to be refined as gold or silver is refined in a furnace. The beautiful thing about being a Christian is that we are not going through the trials alone as the three Hebrew boys learned in the King's fire. We can stand on the promise Jesus gave us:
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.