This morning a man of deep wisdom and a walk lived closed to God post on the blog. @Bahamabob is a rare jewel of wisdom and depth and I am honored to have him post on the blog today. Take time and follow Bob on twitter or visit his own blog.
God wants to train our imaginations with hope. Our expectations of the future are always much worse or much better than what we experience. That proves out the words of Scripture that man and God do not think alike. Yet, God wants to give us the mind of Christ.
How does He do that? He brings tribulation, which gives proven character and that produces Hope (my capital emphasis, as Hope is God's, hope is ours.)
No one much prays for trouble in their lives. We want money, security and stable children (or our job could be our child.) It is said that the human mind spends 90% of its considerable energy attempting to remove pain from our lives. That is partially broken, as only God can remove pain, and in fact he disciplines those He loves!
So, the Israelites had manna from heaven but wanted meat! Yet all they had to do was pick up something we all want to discover, as we imagine manna as a cure-all, the ambrosia of the Living God.
God is the ambrosia of the Living God-it is His fellowship that gives us Hope, not manna it seems from history. Yet, that is uncomfortable. All intimate relationships carry with them the weight of value, and the heavy part is that we must reflect on self in the presence of other, especially in God's presence. This is painful at first.
So, God pushes us. I feel God designs tribulation just for us. No one else could handle what He brings. In fact, others might not find your burden heavy at all! I know few people who would swap burdens with anyone.
So, what is in this article for you? Firstly, lighten up. If you are beating yourself up for trouble in your life, the way God wants to retrain us is this: "Rejoice in your trials!" Why, because then we will have Hope, which is a Great Treasure God wants to give. We could be sitting in a jail cell with no lights and have Hope so strong it would be almost like heaven.
You have probably not done anything wrong to have trouble. If so, you will know. Also, and this is key: He was not surprised and can handle it if you brought trouble into your life. God rejoices in our trials in that He loves to take us higher! Most people assume lack of blessing if things do not go as wanted or planned. That is simply not true, and Scripture tells us this over and over. When Big Trouble comes expect God to develop a Big Hope! That is who God is.
Secondly, do not be afraid of God. He created you and He knows how to communicate to you. I have people tell me, "I do not know if that 
was God or not" but we should assume God is doing and speaking into our lives. He says in John 15 He wants to be our friend. Wow.
There is faith, hope and love. Faith is centered upon "Who." Hope is centered upon "What." Love is centered upon "How." Let us enjoy the great mystery of What God will do in the new Hope he is forming. In fact, if we do, it might make the training shorter!
was God or not" but we should assume God is doing and speaking into our lives. He says in John 15 He wants to be our friend. Wow.There is faith, hope and love. Faith is centered upon "Who." Hope is centered upon "What." Love is centered upon "How." Let us enjoy the great mystery of What God will do in the new Hope he is forming. In fact, if we do, it might make the training shorter!
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans12:12
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
