I thought I would share this with you. I get his emails daily.
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PRIME TIME WITH GOD
How God Uses Pain
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman 02-04-2008
"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isa 45:7).
God will use pain in order to create a love relationship with His creation. This statement may challenge your theology. However, consider that God allowed Jesus to experience incredible pain in order to create an opportunity to have a relationship with His creation.
Consider how Jesus created a relationship with Paul. He blinded him and used a crisis in his life in order to bring him into a relationship with him and use him for God's purposes. Consider how God recruited Jonah for the mission He had for him.
This is not God's first choice for His creation. Romans 2:4 reveals that God's preference is to show mercy and kindness: "Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"
The problem is there are few people who respond to the goodness of God. God loves people more than He loves their comfort. He invests a great deal into mankind. He desires relationship with us and will go to great lengths to create such a relationship in order for us to receive the rewards and inheritance He has for us.
I have observed this process in the scriptures in working with people through years of ministry. I have noticed three distinct stages.
First, we live based on convenience. Our obedience is largely based on circumstances in our lives. We choose to obey based on the circumstances.
The second stage is the crisis stage. God allows a crisis to come into our lives. We are motivated to obey God in order to get out of the pain of our situation. Many times God allows us to stay in this condition in order to demonstrate His love and faithfulness during our pain. Gradually, we discover something new about God and often have a personal encounter with Him that changes us. Our very nature is affected by this God-encounter.
This begins to move us into a third phase that is a relationship that is motivated now by love and devotion instead of pain. This is where God desires us to be. Another way of saying this is we are no longer seeking His hand. We are seeking Him. We want to know God personally.
Obedience will not last when the motivation is only the removal of our pain. Obedience only lasts when the motivation is loving devotion. Where are you in your obedience and what is the primary motivation? If it isn't love, why not tell the Lord you love Him today and want to know Him for who He is and not for what He can do for you.
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I find his daily emails outstanding. They have been a great comfort and resource for me since I recently discovered him.
PH, If I read your posts correctly, you seem to feel that you are not getting enough people posting to you. I feel bad for this because you post to me often and don't post to you often. I'm sorry for this, I've been very busy lately and I barely have time to keep up with my own thread. I will try and keep up more and if you want a little extra input feel to come over to my thread and give me a kick in the pants any time you want.
M35 W37 S9 D6 M12 yrs Know 15 yrs Bomb 1/28/07 My Sitch Failure is the opportunity to start again more intelligently - Henry Ford
You have indicated that you have posted on different forums here and about the lack of responses.
I am reminded about something Charlyne and Bob have written over and over again about standing. They said that we should not be seeking so many answers from a variety of sources. Seek God first, let HIM do the work, and you be still and ask God to help you have the patience to get through this time in your life.
Yes, you will have friends who support you but if you are willing to put God first and rely on HIM as opposed to the many answers one may or may not be getting on a forum, then I will bet you will see some results.
Be still for awhile and allow/rely on God to work on your husband. Remember there is so much we do not see as God does work behind the scenes.
The Bomb: 08/05 H moves out: 06/2006 H moves back: 01/07 & Out again: 01/07 H moves back: 03/08 & Out again: 04/08 H moves back: 05/09 & Out again: 07/09 Divorced 08-12 Kids: 22, 20, 19
I should have added that it is great that you and others can come here and state what is going on whether it is something good or something that is very frustrating.........
The bottom line: Allow God to take over now instead of trying to over analyze every little detail. I know how difficult that can be but this is maybe a lesson to be learned as well.
The Bomb: 08/05 H moves out: 06/2006 H moves back: 01/07 & Out again: 01/07 H moves back: 03/08 & Out again: 04/08 H moves back: 05/09 & Out again: 07/09 Divorced 08-12 Kids: 22, 20, 19
I don't post to you as much either PH. I know we e-mail each other every once in awhile though.
According to the bible we are supposed to seek many counsels but only those that put the Lord's Word above all else. Even then, we are to take this advice and confirm it by going directly to Him.
I still appreciate whoever posts advice to me, whether I agree or not with what they say. I always take the advice and speak with a close friend of mine to get his opinion. He asks me what I have read in the bible that would help support or refute the advice.
Even with Christian based materials, I confirm what the author states against what is in the bible. I do the same thing with much of Michele's materials because a majority of her techiques do not contradict anything in the Word.
Me:56, W:51 D:26,S:24,S:22 Married:18 Bomb 9/27/06 Separated 11/27/06 Divorced 10/6/08 Leaving it up to God
Thanks for sharing this email. What he wrote about the third phase is new to me. Food for thought. Will have to think on this more. Where do you subscribe to the emails?
BTW, I just got a response back from Erin's office regarding the audio tapes. She thinks they are no longer available anywhere because the supply depleted 2 years ago. Maybe I can try Amazon.com for used ones.
I feel bad for this because you post to me often and don't post to you often. I'm sorry for this, I've been very busy lately and I barely have time to keep up with my own thread.
Please don't feel bad. I understand that people are busy and may not respond because they just simply don't know what to say or because they don't identify with my situation. Thanks for "offering the kick". In the future, I will ask you explicitly for input so you don't get let off the hook so easily.... Thanks for your support!
You have indicated that you have posted on different forums here and about the lack of responses. I am reminded about something Charlyne and Bob have written over and over again about standing. They said that we should not be seeking so many answers from a variety of sources. Seek God first, let HIM do the work, and you be still and ask God to help you have the patience to get through this time in your life.
I think it was more that I was saying people may not identify with my situation and hence misunderstand or get discouraged or confused by the way I have handled my situation. And as a result, they may also be more cautious in what they'd want to say to me. I, on the other hand, am open to people's input because I may be missing something in my situation that someone sees because they are not too close to the situation.
I think I have been doing my best in letting God take control, if not for that, I won't be here after 19 months. I am not desperate at all. I am standing for my M still because I believe in my M vows, and am trying to do God's will. Back at the beginning of my S, I thought I'd be done in 2 months at most...
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Remember there is so much we do not see as God does work behind the scenes.
Yep, I agree there's alot that happens that we are not privvy to. Thank God for that.
The bottom line: Allow God to take over now instead of trying to over analyze every little detail. I know how difficult that can be but this is maybe a lesson to be learned as well.
I also think that there is a place and time for analyzing. I have found that doign this has helped me get to this point. However, as you pointed out, over-analyzing is bad. For one, it causes undue stress to me. Hence, for me, I need to work out a balance in my analyzing.
According to the bible we are supposed to seek many counsels but only those that put the Lord's Word above all else. Even then, we are to take this advice and confirm it by going directly to Him.
Agree. It is wise to seek advice . The important thing there is to decide which advice is in synch with what God has in mind for us, and what is in tune with His Word.
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I still appreciate whoever posts advice to me, whether I agree or not with what they say. I always take the advice and speak with a close friend of mine to get his opinion. He asks me what I have read in the bible that would help support or refute the advice.
Ditto. I appreciate people taking the time to post and offer input, advice, validation, compassion, etc.
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Even with Christian based materials, I confirm what the author states against what is in the bible. I do the same thing with much of Michele's materials because a majority of her techiques do not contradict anything in the Word.
Agree with you that alot of Michele's advice is in keeping with what the Bible teaches.
Thanks for your support!