He Ministered to Others in His Own Time of Trial

The man lost his job. He didn’t see it coming, he said. He was just called into the boss’s office and informed that his position was being eliminated. The key to this story is how he reacted.

{sidebar id=1}Instead of getting angry or upset, he said he felt the strength of God rise up inside him. As he left the office, some co-workers were upset, and he said he was able to encourage them, even minister to them. Yet he was the one who had lost his job! How was he able to react so well to such bad news?

He said it was because he had spent plenty of time with the Lord leading up to that moment. He had a full tank of the Spirit, so to speak, so when he suddenly needed a boost, the Lord was right there to give it to him. One specific example he gave involved his iPod. It’s apparently full of Christian music, including a special section of songs designed to lead him into the presence of God. So he said that because he had been spending plenty of time with the Lord, he had the stability and strength he needed when his life was suddenly thrown into turmoil.

I’ve seen it go both ways. I’ve seen many Christians who actually turned away from God when trials came.

Over the years I’ve seen several Christian men and women react when their spouse cheated on them and left them for someone else. Some draw closer to God, and others run from Him.

What’s the difference? I think the man’s story I heard yesterday hit it right on the head. People who spend time with God will receive from Him when the going gets tough. But people who maybe go to church and participate in Christian activities, but who aren’t really in a growing personal relationship with God, when the going gets tough they tend to resort back to their old ways.

In Matthew 13, in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said that some people hear the word and receive it with joy – but the seed has no root. When trouble comes, they fall away. What is the root? I think part of it is a growing relationship with the Lord.

I think another part of that root is our personal righteousness. Sometimes people hear the Gospel and receive it with joy, but they never answer the call to personal righteousness. Jesus said to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”* The people who do this don’t fall away when trials come. They are stable due to that root of personal righteousness.

{sidebar id=1}When we hold onto our worldly ways, it stunts the growth of our root system. Colossians 2:7 says we are to be rooted and built up in Christ Jesus our Lord. The man who lost his job said he received strength from God. That’s because he was rooted in Christ Jesus, spending time with Him, being built up in Him.

How was he able to minister to others when he is the one who received a blow? I like what it says in Proverbs 10:11, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life…” What is my part in that verse? To be righteous.

I’m not so righteous on my own, which is why I try to seek first the Lord and His righteousness. As I spend time with Him and draw near to Him, then He draws near to me and brings His righteousness with Him. That’s why I think these two things go together, our time with the Lord and our personal righteousness.

So we spend regular time with God, and we grow in personal righteousness. Then when trials come, our mouth is a fountain of life.

Are you a Christian? How do you want to respond to a severe trial? Do you want to be even closer to God, or do you want to risk falling away from Him? You are actually making that decision right now based upon whether or not you are spending time drawing near to Him and working on your personal righteousness. If you don’t do these things, you will have no root. But if you do, you will not only withstand the trial, but you will even be able to minister to others in the process.

Comments?

E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

* Matthew 6:33

This aricle originally published on February 13, 2008.

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