Purpose in Trials

God recently brought a verse in Jeremiah to my attention that really pierced my heart:

"He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:8

Then I went through a "focused living" seminar for my dad and I felt my heart being grabbed all over again as I went through an exercise that had me pull out all of the lessons God has been teaching me over the course of my life, and I saw all the ways he had been present.

Then I went to bible study and we talked about having an "unshakable simplicity" where Erwin G. Tieman was quoted saying, "Nothing influences the quality of our life more than how we respond to trouble."

These three things happened in a matter of a week. I figured God was probably trying to get my attention so I spent some time digging into these three themes in order to hear what He was trying to tell me. It was quite a convicting message.

I've now been in Pittsburgh for an entire year. It's been a challenging year. I've experienced a lot of the drought and heat Jeremiah talks about. I've spent a lot of my year dwelling on those times and not a lot of time ensuring I was like a tree planted by water. I was more like a rock, refusing to soak in the nutrients that would allow me to bear fruit. I stopped going to God with my problems, I would yell at him for them, but then try and "solve" them on my own. You can imagine how effective that was for me.

My dad encouraged me to complete this "focused living" seminar in hopes that it would renew in me a sense of purpose. It did a lot more than that.

One of the exercises required me to create a timeline of my life- to write on yellow post-it notes the significant people and experiences that have shaped who I am. After that was completed, I had to go through and pull out the post-it notes that represented a hard time or trial, and put them on pink post-it notes. Then, I had to organize all of the post-it notes into life stages and pull out lessons from each stage.

I have always heard and recited and even told other people, "God has a purpose in your trials." But to look and see how many of my life lessons were a direct result of my trials was overwhelming. Talking through my lessons with my dad connected the dots even further. I felt like crying the whole time because it was so overwhelming and wonderful to catch even just a glimpse of the way God had prepared me for where I am now.

Then my dad pointed out that my lessons don't just show how I value relationships with people, but with God also. Every lesson is somehow tied into what I learned about God and how central he is. He told me it is obvious I value my relationship with God. As I reflected on that I heard God say to me, "SEE! You value me! It has been evident at every stage of your life. So why are you ignoring the love and strength I want to give you? Why aren't you laying your burdens at my feet? I have a purpose in this trial too, how do you expect to find it if you aren't spending time with me?"

Yes I was experiencing times of heat and drought, but the biggest drought was in my heart. Because I had stopped going to God for fulfillment. I realized my current trial was only due to one thing: I missed God.

Bible study on Monday tied everything together. First, it was a sweet reminder of the way God had provided during my trials. He brought me to this sweet group of girls who were willing to be vulnerable and real in our journey to discover more of God. Second, the subject of unshakable simplicity was beyond perfect.

Cynthia Heald said, "Choosing to live a life simply devoted to the Lord does equip and enable us to remain unshakable in the midst of stressful and trying circumstances." God equips us! We have a choice, and when we make that choice, he equips us to remain unshakable, or green and able to bear fruit, in times of trials!

She also said, "I have found that the only way I can remain unshakable, assured, and deeply at peace is when I take heart from being in the presence of Christ. The only way I can experience His mercies to live just for today is to sit at His feet and listen to His Word. While abiding in Him I receive the strength, the wisdom, and the eternal perspective I need to respond to adversity in order to not be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty thrilled at the prospect of sitting at God's feet in times of trials, rather than venturing out to handle them on my own.