Understanding
the Ways of God
Originally published in 2005
INTRODUCTION
We received a letter from one of our faithful readers which had some
questions that we considered of Universal interest and importance. This
particular writer's situation will certainly differ from yours,
however, the questions/concerns posed apply to a multitude of
situations.
Therefore, we have turned the letter and our response into a new
document - Understanding the Ways of
God.
For ease of understanding and keeping each point in focus, our answers may be found within
the text of the letter. The letter will be shown in italic letters while our response
will be in purple
bold letters.
THE LETTER
and THE RESPONSE
May the peace of our Lord be upon you
all at The M+G+R Foundation!
I have a question regarding
suffering. When you say suffering do you mean just physical pain or all
types of suffering such as emotional, stressful situations, situations
out of your control?
All suffering -
physical and spiritual - may
be offered to God in the same manner that we have shown in our document
on Redemptive Suffering. (1)
If your suffering is part of the
reparation process to help other souls, is there always peace
associated with it? The reason I ask is manifold.
Yes. Inner peace
should be experienced if we
do not allow satan to manipulate the situation. That inner
peace is the product of knowing that it is the Will of God that we
suffer through the particular situation.
I am experiencing extreme suffering
in ways other than physical pain. My biggest suffering has to do with
my sick daughter, she has been sick for 3 years now, each year getting
worse and the doctors not being able to find the cause. I believe the
Lord has revealed to me, through others, the cause of her pain. We live
under a cell tower and all of her symptoms have totally gone away since
I sent her to my sisters where she is far from cell towers and high
tension power lines. I am so grateful for the answer, however it is
torturing my soul, that one of my children is not with me.
It is satan who
is torturing you soul. Obviously God granted you the Grace of
identifying the problem and gave you a temporary solution. How to stop
that "torturing"? It is quite simple - read on.
I have been looking day and night for
a new home with enough acreage to insulate her from this and since my
finances are so low, I have had a very hard time finding one. I don't
question or doubt the Lord has this all figured out, and has just not
revealed it to me, but I just can't seem to keep my anxiety level down,
and it is interfering with all other aspects in my life, mostly my
prayer life, and my family life.
The solution to
your dilemma - and all similar dilemmas - lies in the Trilogy of Faith.
First of all, Faith is granted by God upon our request. Faith is not
just a "shelf item" as some Church representatives may imply by words
or deeds.
However
Faith - believing that there is a God - is
not enough. satan knows
that there is a God too! Are we then to say that satan has Faith? Of
course not!
Here is
where the concept of Trilogy of Faith comes in. We must pray for: (1)
Faith; (2) the ability to Abandon ourselves to the Will of God; and (3)
for Confidence that He will act upon our request. Most faithful are
lacking parts 2 and 3 of the Trilogy, thus,
they block Divine action.
Unfortunately,
in far too many cases, as if that were not enough, they may even say:
"I am not worthy of His favor." or "This is not important for Him to
waste His time on."
What the
individual is doing there, ensnared
by satan, is being
arrogant and telling God that His judgment is not good since the
individual has judged him/herself unworthy of God's Favor and has
assigned priorities to God's Agenda. Isn't that arrogance? Can you see
where that came from? The Master of Arrogance - satan!
The constant worry is bogging me down
especially as I see the rest of my family getting sick too; I also am
tortured over what to do with my house. If I don't sell it I have no
other way to buy another house, and if I don't tell others and risk not
being able to sell my house, how can I explain to God how I took care
of my children and let His other children suffer.
I already know the answer to this
one. I am telling all I meet about this, although most people don't
believe me with the exception of those I have met that are experiencing
the same symptoms. There is some comfort there, as I have been able to
alert another mother whose daughter is just as sick as mine. My biggest
concern, though, is: Am I being thrown off track talking about cell
towers?
In your
situation, like
in all similar situations, what is to be
done is:
(1)
Seek God's help for a clear definition of the problem and then a
temporary solution; then
(2) Enlist His help to find the permanent solution to the problem.
How? You
have already successfully completed step No. (1).
Unfortunately,
instead of rejoicing for His great care for you and your family and
moving on to step No. (2), you are being tortured by it, thus soiling
the great Gift He has granted you. That is the fastest way for Him to
stop helping you. "After all", humanly speaking He may think, "I
certainly do not want to cause her any more suffering as it resulted
when I granted her the first part of the solution."
He is very
happy that you are totally honest with anyone who may be a potential
buyer of your house; thus He would give you the final solution very
soon, yet, you stumble and fumble due to satan's favorite snares, thus
delaying the final solution to the problem at hand.
I also wonder if this is one of the
tools that will be used for mind control. Should I forget what is
happening physically to people and just concentrate on the spiritual
health? It does seem right to me, perhaps I am so confused because I am
caught in a snare. I only want to serve the Lord in whatever way He
wishes.
Maybe it is being
used for mind control, or maybe not - however, that is none of your
business right now. Your business right now is to get you and your
family into a safe place in accordance to His Will - therefore, focus
on that!
How does one discern what the Lord is
asking of us? and, Most of all, how do I effectively rid myself of all
this needless worry? Especially when your brain and your soul KNOW
nothing happens to us by chance or without our Lord allowing it, how do
we get through this time until the Lord shows us the way?
I guess most of my worry stems from
being unsure of if I am getting His signs right, I am so afraid of
letting Him down, who I love above all things and people, even my
daughter.
Let us take it
from the top. satan cannot ensnare the manifestation of the Will of God
for anyone - therefore, have absolute confidence in His Guidance. If
you do not get "His signs right" then ask Him to clarify them for you.
If your
loving Eternal Father would be visible to you and He would live in your
house and instructed you to do something and you did not quite
understand what He wanted - what would you do? You - as any human would
do with a human loving father - would ask Him as many times as needed;
He will patiently explain it to you in
a number of different ways until you
finally understood it.
The fact
that you really want to do His Will gives Him Glory and makes Him very
happy, so do not spoil a happy moment for God (few people give Him
happy moments any more) by fretting over "just not getting it right".
I also know He has prompted me for
along time to move, I was just too stubborn and weak to convince my
family to do so, they have all thought me to be a little nuts as I have
tried to warn them about the times we live in and the snares and traps
set for us.
Well, you have
heard our message that "Pain is the megaphone that God uses for the
deaf to hear." (1)
Obviously it
took this problem for them to start waking up as you have pointed out
in your next paragraph.
Thus - it is
clear that He wants you and your family out. He knows your finances and
other situations, better than you do, therefore, once you have done all
that is within reason to sell your
current property and find the next, you just turn around and place the
rest in His hands so that He resolves it.
Just, do not
limit God by submitting to Him a specific neighborhood, price, house
plan, color, etc. etc. Man always does that - tells God exactly what
His Will should be! Let Him do the choosing!
In this
phase, all you do is pray and have Him confirm to you any apparent
solution that comes up to ensure that it is from Him and not a snare
from satan. This also pleases Him enormously. When we get back to Him,
just to make sure the solution to whatever problem is from Him, we
Glorify Him.
I am very grateful that all in my
family are starting to come around and are turning back to the Lord,
maybe not as much or as fast as I would like, but I also know God is
merciful and takes us step by step. Could it be that this suffering is
helping their souls?
Without a doubt,
your suffering has had an impact on that. However, we must only be
concerned that those who must return to the House of the Father (2) are on the right
road and moving in the right general direction. The speed - that is -
how fast they travel toward the Father's House, and the manner, is
strictly up to Him.
If it is, it would be a big relief
and would give me added strength to know in some small way it is
helping our Lord's people return to Him, I would gladly suffer anything
and everything for Him.
This is indeed
very generous of you and Glorifies God, however, you should be willing
to suffer ONLY what He deems that you should suffer and no more.
Otherwise, satan would trick you into being more of a martyr than Jesus
Himself. Did He not pray in the Garden [Luke 22:42]: "Father,
if you are willing, take
this cup away from me; still, not my will but your be done" ?
Thus, we
must always ask first for "the cup" to be taken away, just as He showed
us, but, if we must assume "the cup", we should do so with confidence
that He indeed knows what is best. That does not mean: "No pain" or "No
agony". It means that down deep, knowing that we are fully cooperating
with Him, the flame of Joy will keep our hearts consoled - not the
constant agony you are suffering.
satan knows
well that you would suffer anything for God and would do anything He
moves you to, therefore, his trick is to place the doubt in your heart
that you are not doing enough, or not doing what is right, for the One
Whom you love so.
Remember,
God can and does read our hearts and if in a heart He finds the true
burning desire to serve and please Him - it Will be done unless we
interfere with worry. Our physical and/or intellectual ability will not
interfere with our service to Him for He will make "up the difference",
but needless worry and doubt, will! This is one of the favorite tricks
of satan to be deployed on those who truly love God.
May God
continue to Bless you and Keep you.... but remember, you
must allow Him to do so!
EPILOGUE
Fourteen years later, this sister in Christ continues to be an
assiduous reader and contributor to our work. Her spiritual advances
have been tremendous. All that she wrote above was perfectly resolved
through the Grace of God, activated by her true Faith in Him.
She has come across other major "mountains" in her journey; "mountains"
that she has "moved" just as Our Lord Jesus Christ told us that we
could.
For,
amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you
shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall
remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. [Matthew
17:19]
May God continue to Bless and Keep her and continue to reward her in
proportion to the Faith in Him that she has demonstrated through
actions - not just words.
NOTES
(1) Suffering : Mankind's
Participation in Its Own Redemption - and - Pain is the megaphone that
God uses for the deaf to hear Him
(2) Do
not despair! Do
not give up! It is one step at a time!
En Español: Comprendiendo los caminos de Dios
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