Weekly Wisdoms for the week of July 25, 2022
God is a just and righteous God -- perfect (see Deuteronomy 32:4). God, therefore, can not let imperfect, sinful humans into his presence. In his justice, God gives every person the fair penalty for his or her sin -- eternal separation from the holy God.
God is also a God of wrath -- holy wrath against sin. As Romans 1:18 says, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. That wrath is against all who have sinned.
However, God is also a loving God (1 John 4:8). Indeed, God demonstrated his self-giving love for us by sending Jesus Christ to die for us (Romans 5:8).
These two key attributes of God -- holy wrath and love -- fuse on the Cross. For that's where God shows his love by satisfying his holy wrath in order to provide a path for sinful humans to know the holy God.
It would be nice to simply wake up one day and suddenly be a mature Christian, but in order to grow up in God, we will have to go through trials. There is no other way to grow strong spiritually than to go through trials.
1 Peter 5:10 says, And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. You may not like trials, but this verse says that when you are going through trials after you have suffered a little while, you will grow to be firmly rooted and grounded (strong, firm and steadfast) in God.
Similarly, James 1:12 says, Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. Here again, you don't get the rewards (the crown of life) until you have persevered under trial and stood the test.
So, learn to be thankful in your trials, because in order to get your breakthrough, you need a trial to break through.
Therefore, don't be discouraged during times of suffering. Know that after you have suffered a little while, God himself will make you strong firm and steadfast.
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