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Bible Question: How
can we tell if our suffering is from God or the devil? If we knew,
then we could pray to God about our suffering in a more knowledgeable
way. For example, if I sinned and was given a punishment from God
then I would repent and ask for forgiveness. If the suffering is caused
by the devil, then I would pray for God's strength to fight the devil.
Bible Answer: God
allows Christians to be disciplined in different ways for the purpose
of changing us and causing us to move more toward holiness.
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.
. .
He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.
(NASB) Hebrews 12:10 |
He wants us to be holy as He is holy.
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.
. .
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also
in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL
BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” (NASB) 1 Peter 1:15-16 |
God's Modeling Tools. He wants us to
sin less. We will never be without sin, but by His Holy Spirit we
will have increasing victory over sin (Gal. 5:16-21). God also uses
others means to do this in our life. God is a loving craftsman Who
knows how to carefully shape our lives. There is an old statement
that says that metal left to itself is worthless but if it is put
into the heat and pounded with force it can become a useful water
pot, a protective horse shoe, a valuable knife, or many other wonderful
things. So it is with Christians. God is molding us into holy persons
and preparing us for His usefulness. He is the master craftsman Who
makes no mistakes. Suffering is one tool He uses to shape us.
Here are some of the different tools that He uses in our lives.
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His
Tool |
Immediate Purpose |
Passage |
|
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Church
discipline |
To
motivate us to stop sinning |
Matt.
18:15-17;
1 Cor. 5:9-11;
1 Tim. 5:20 |
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Friend's
rebuke |
To
prevent or stop us from sinning |
Proverbs
27:6;
Galatians 6:1-2 |
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Persecution |
To
cause spiritual growth |
Heb.
10:32-34 with Heb. 12:4; Job 1-2 |
|
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Satan |
To
prevent us from sinning
To stop us from sinning |
2
Cor. 12:7-10;
1 Timothy 1:20 |
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Sickness
& disease |
For
God's glory
To prevent us from sinning |
Ex.
4:11;
1 Cor. 11:27-30 |
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Word
of God |
To
cause spiritual growth |
2
Tim. 3:16-17 |
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Why
Am I Suffering? In some cases we will know why we are suffering.
If the church has disciplined by excommunication or if a friend has
warned or rebuked us, then we know why "suffering" occurred.
Too often we blame the person or the church when if fact God can and
does use people to get through to us. We can also suffer for doing
what is right and for obeying God. It is not popular with God's people
to suffer this way. Even the Jewish people in Malachi complained because
they were suffering and not the "evil doers" (Malachi 3:14-16).
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For
it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for
doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. (NASB)
1 Peter 3:17 |
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