From Belief to Knowledge

UV 1588/10000 From Belief to Knowledge
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8 v 28

God’s purpose is to call us to share His eternal goodness and greatness. To this end, we are called, justified or “straightened out” and enlarged or “made great”. He allows us to endure some suffering so that we are purified, strengthened, established and settled in our faith and our eternal relationship with Him. Our faith is tested in fire even as steel is tempered in the furnace. Everything that happens in our lives, both the good, the bad and the terrible experiences are meant to shape and mould our character so that we reflect the love and patience of the Lord Jesus. We can acquire qualifications from a university but we are imparted qualities by the Spirit of God. These qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control are aspects of character that are called in scripture as the “fruit of the spirit.”

Some of the experiences we go through in life can be extremely painful in the short run but are meant for our eternal gain. The Lord knows given our ease-loving nature, we learn much more from pain than from pleasure and good times. Many people baulk at the idea of coming into a close or intimate relationship with God as they know they might have to undergo fiery ordeals. But those who love the Lord make a conscious choice and are among those who count the cost and are only too willing to pay the price, knowing an eternal reward awaits them. As a child trusts her parents to do what is good for her, so we trust the Lord to do good to us. A vaccination may be painful but the parents decide it is necessary to protect the child from greater harm. Similarly, the Lord vaccinates us in a spiritual sense against the shallow and superficial faith.
The belief that all things add up to our good enables us to introspect and find out from each experience the lessons of life that the Lord wishes to teach us. It keeps us from getting bitter or depressed or from wallowing in self pity. We develop an inner strength, hope and courage to face whatever turn our lives take or whatever life throws at us. We increase in faith and love of God as He leads us from one experience to another. The purpose of the Lord is to confirm our calling, to lead us into a greater depth and experience of the eternal and infinite. We should know that God makes no mistakes and that nothing is wasted in His economy. Sometimes an event happened in our lives as it was the only way to communicate His eternal purpose to us. Sometimes it happened so that we will have a testimony or some evidence of God working in our lives that we could share with others. The first three words of the uni-verse “ We know that…” implies that our belief in God’s goodness to us should move from belief to “rooted knowledge” or knowledge of God’s purpose, power and Person that is rooted in the Word.
Prateep V Philip