Walking through the fires-passing through the waters.

No saint who has walked through the fires or passed through the waters would ever say that God will not give you more than you can handle. We are truly shaped by the events that bring us to our knees. The place where we realize that we have limitations and we have reached the end of ours is truly the place of transformation. We are never the same after realizing that we are finite and all of our abilities are finite. This is where the infinite steps in and touches us and reaches out His hand and helps us up from off our knees.

The things that truly shape us are not the choices that we make. The totality of our lives cannot be found in the choices that we make. If that was true then we would be masters of our own destinies. This is the fodder of all guru's and self help charlatans and has infiltrated the church. Joel Olsteen and others being masters of this kind of teaching. What really shapes our lives is the circumstances over which we have no control and how we react to them.

The disasters, the defeats, the tragedies, the loss, these are what truly shape our lives, those and how we respond to them. None of us would choose disaster, none of us would choose tragedy. Yet, the building blocks of who we are, are forged in the fires of affliction. God has guaranteed that there is no money to be made nor fame to be had in sharing this kind of truth.............bro Frank

Hi Lisa, I will pray for Samuel. I think you are right about most Americans and this kind of message. I believe they would typically have the Job's friend mind-set meaning;if things are going well in your life then God is blessing you. If things are going badly then you must have sinned. The way God shapes His children, in general, is through the fires of affliction. Yet, I believe, He will not inflict these fires upon those who have no genuine desire to be like Him. To be like Him is to enter into His sufferings. If we enter into His sufferings then we will reign with Him in glory.........bro Frank

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:

Yes sister, and I am reminded that the Lord Himself cried out from the cross to His Father asking why He had forsaken Him. Paul said that he despaired almost unto death. These are the times in our pilgrimage that we are tested. Who will endure to the end? We can either fall down prostrate at the feet of our God or we can return to world in which we had left behind. This is why, I believe, Jesus said that many were called but few are chosen.............bro Frank