Truth Matters-43

Welcome to Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Today, Dr. Davis ends her series on why God allows suffering and how suffering can become the gateway to an abundant life in Christ. Here's Dr. Davis, God's reasons and seasons for suffering. Romans Chapter 8, Verse 18 says, I had to say all of that to lay the foundation of what God really is saying to us in this current time. Going through God-appointed suffering or a God-ordained reproach is not without risk.

David tells us of those risks all throughout the book of Psalms as he writes and laments about his reproach from Saul. In Psalms Chapter 69, Verse 20, he captures his feelings very plainly when he says, The heaviness can get so hard and the loneliness so familiar that we take up residence at this spot and resist the work of God. God will not step in front of our own free will. Just like Jesus had to submit his own will to the Father in the garden, so do we have to submit our will to God in our God-appointed suffering. Some of you are getting stuck and refusing to submit to the God-appointed plan for your life because it is too painful. You are saying, this is not what I signed up for.

This does not make sense. I cannot imagine serving a God that would allow this to be. A God-ordained reproach or God-ordained suffering is a pruning process that is designed to make us fruitful. When we resist the pruning in our lives, we will become barren.

As I was preparing this series, I could not get away from the word barrenness. Barrenness kept ringing through my soul and my spirit. Some of you have been enduring your reproach for some time and you have become spiritually barren.

You have become so miserable in the midst of all of it that you have lost your joy, your peace, and your hope. You are not producing spiritual fruit because you are resisting the pruning of the dead parts of you. When we do not bear fruit as the Spirit of God enables us to do, we bring a reproach to the Holy Spirit.

To reproach the Holy Spirit is sin. Therefore, our relationship with God is hindered. Our labor in the vineyard of God becomes a grief to us. Your emotions are so frayed and your heart is so hard with such disappointment that resentment turns into bitterness. The enemy is saying to you, if God loved you, He would never allow you to experience such things.

The enemy is saying to you, look for the easy button so that you can get out. But because God does love you, He has called you, He will allow you to experience such things for your good and for His glory. The only thing that can heal spiritual barrenness is the Holy Spirit of God and its healing power. God's Word said His grace is sufficient for whatever situation we are in. The Spirit of God is love, mercy, grace, and truth. If God called you to this appointed suffering, His mercy and grace will be enough to see you through.

I want to invite you today to meet the Spirit of God. If you are broken and contrite, the Bible says that He is near to you. Open your heart to seek His forgiveness and allow His healing work to restore you into the person He has called you to be. I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis telling you the truth of God's love.

God does care for you. Suffering is difficult, but it's God's way of turning a stubborn person away from their sin and changing their trajectory in life. It's through this painful process of suffering that God prepares us to meet our destiny.

In 1 Corinthians 2-9 we read, Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human mind conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him. If you are struggling with these issues, Dr. Davis would like to help. You can reach her by email at CherylDavis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or connect with her on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Reach out today, letting God turn your trials into stepping stones for His blessings. Suffering can make you bitter, but God can make you better. Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis is a production of The Truth Project, where truth really matters.