Do you have a dream and destiny in your heart, but feel like you’re never going to get there? Don’t give up! God has a great future for you. He sees the end from the beginning and He won’t give up until He has finished the work He began in you.
God sees qualities in you that He wants to use to serve others, but like any good coach or trainer, He will push you beyond what you think you are capable of in order to expand those qualities and give them maximum exposure.
If you’ve ever worked with a personal trainer, you may already know, they aren’t the most gentle people in the world. They are after results! And results require resistance. Grueling resistance.
Training is not always pleasant at the time, but the pain produces results.
Hmmm. That reminds me of a scripture: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)
So the next time you encounter resistance,
or rejection,
or adversity,
or longsuffering,
or hopeless situations…
remember, God does not waste a hurt. He is after results. He will turn everything around for your good. He will take that hardship or difficulty or insult and use it to develop strength and endurance in you. And you will be more beautiful and priceless because of it.
Here’s why: In God’s kingdom, suffering produces glory.
That’s right. Glory is the by-product of pain. I know this is not a very popular subject, but since we all endure pain, isn’t it good to know that God can turn our pain into purpose? He uses the painful things of our past for kingdom gain. Jesus was no different. Luke 24:26 says, “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
All through nature this lesson is echoed in creation. Take an oyster for example. You may love wearing pearls, but did you know the glory of a pearl was born in suffering?
That’s right. A pearl typically starts out as a tiny grain of sand. If you’ve ever had a grain of sand in your eye, you know how much it can irritate. You’ll completely stop what you are doing to get rid of it. But the oyster can’t. It just has to deal with it. When a grain of sand gets under the oyster’s shell and bothers it to no end, it has to find a way to endure. In order to compensate for the misery, the oyster begins to build up a mucus around it. Over time, what was once an unwelcome intrusion becomes a priceless beautiful pearl. So next time you suffer your own afflictions and irritations, don’t despair. If you don’t give up, He will develop a priceless pearl in you, too!
Which type of pearl are you?
Cultured Pearl When God wants to develop compassion in you, He may refine you with rejection like He did Joseph when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. Instead of being bitter, Joseph’s trials developed leadership skills in him that promoted him from prison to the palace and helped save an entire world destined to famine. Natural Pearl When God wants to develop perseverance in you, He may refine you by adversity like He did Moses when he spent forty years living on the back side of the desert. Instead of remaining a victim, Moses became a victor as God used him to lead the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt. Tahitian Black Pearl When God wants to develop patience in you, He may refine you by longsuffering like He did Mary when she pondered things in her heart for years and then saw her dream die on the cross. Instead of being filled with sorrow, however, she was consumed with joy as she surrendered her soul to God’s vision. Akoya Pearl When God wants to develop trust and confidence in you, He may refine you by hopeless situations like he did with Gideon when he was hiding in the winepress. We don’t have many winepresses where I’m from, but I know a lot of women who live in whine presses. God wants to take your bitterness and press it out of you. What’s left after the bitterness is gone is only His intoxicating love. He turns whine into wine. Freshwater Pearl When God wants to develop joy in you, He may refine you by hunger and lack like He did Paul. It was in doing without that Paul learned the secret of being content. We are no different. God is more interested in our calling than our comfort. He wants to show us that joy does not depend on what we have. Joy comes from knowing His strength.
john deere 1755 planter six row – john deere building the big buck dvd, john deere 24 oz. double walled cup with straw