God Doesn't Waste Pain: Growing Roots Through Suffering

Name the storm honestly. In storms, our instinct is denial in slogans. I'm good. Others have it worse. Or maybe you're just as guilty of saying, God's got this, when in reality, you mean you do. See, faith doesn't start by pretending the pain isn't real. It starts by telling the truth about it. Jesus in the garden the night before his execution, he cries out, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. If Jesus can acknowledge the pain, so can we. God can't heal what we refuse to acknowledge. [00:42:33] (33 seconds)  #NameTheStorm

See, suffering for the Christian, it's it's not an exercise in futility. Suffering is used by God for redemptive purposes to draw him to us to him. We should never be surprised that when we're called upon to suffer, the way of salvation is the way of the cross. We are promised affliction, that we would be pruned, sanctified, had our impurities removed as we're going through battles. See, God never promised that we never go through the valley of the shadow of death. He just promised that he would walk through it with us. [00:40:22] (32 seconds)  #SufferingForPurpose

And lastly, what does God want through suffering? He wants to be glorified. In all things, God should receive the glory. There's almost no better and more profound time than in the midst of strife. To put God first, we have to do so in all seasons. If we can only give God glory in the good times but never in the bad, that is not faith. That is not letting him be lord of all. [00:39:38] (25 seconds)  #GlorifyGodThroughSuffering

Truly, everything in the Old Testament is Christ concealed. Everything in the New Testament is Christ revealed. Clearly, God was telling us the story of Christ even through the evil perpetrated back then. And don't you for a second believe that your life is any different. The same way that God will tell that story through a guy like Absalom, of course, he will do it through you too. [00:55:58] (23 seconds)  #ChristInEveryStory

So firstly, Jesus shows us we need to choose community. Storms, they are not solo missions. The enemy, he wants isolation, but God sends people. The worst storms, they're survivable, but the loneliest ones are not. See, Jesus at the garden, he brings his three most trusted disciples with him. See, independence, it can feel strong until the moment it collapses. [00:41:51] (23 seconds)  #ChooseCommunity

The most important moment of the whole experience has always been the moment I realized I couldn't depend on myself, that I didn't stand a chance apart from God. And I finally gave into the trust of God and gave up on that trust in myself. That day, the intimacy I had with God was forever changed. That trust in God, it went from a slogan I said to literally an imprint on my heart. [00:30:00] (24 seconds)  #TrustOverSelf

To put God first, we we have to live God first lives. He He can't just be God over the good. We have to recognize him as Lord over the struggles as well, that our faith, our praise should only be increased in the time of storms, not decreased. See, faith that only works in comfort isn't faith. It's actually convenience. [00:40:03] (18 seconds)  #LiveGodFirst

He he had to have weeped for his own struggles. He had to have had frustration and wallow in all of it. But along the way, you know what he learned? Is that he wasn't dependent on David's strength. He was dependent upon God's. And in that time, he learned how to trace God's hand even through the worst moments of his life that he could trust that God was always doing something for his good. [00:46:14] (23 seconds)  #TraceGodsHand