God can exhort or teach us through punishment and pain, so we shouldn’t refuse or avoid it. God’s chastening can cause wounds, pain, defeat and misfortunes in our lives, but God does it all in love. And when the goal of God’s chastening is reached, He takes all these bad things away and heals us.
One of the reasons God allows suffering in the lives of His children is that He desires to draw our attention to Himself, to correct and discipline us. We know that God mostly corrects us by His Word: «All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work» (2 Timothy, 3:16-17).
1. God’s presence: «I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own» (John, 10:14).
2. God’s holiness: «I am the good shepherd» (John,10:11а)
The Bible says that God called Abram His friend. God came to Abram and said that He cannot hide from him what He has purposed to do: «And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him”»(Быт.18:17-19)
1. To give us revelation about God (about Himself).
First of all, God will speak to us in order to reveal the truth about Himself. If we fail to hear the voice of God we will never get Him to know well enough to become His friends.
Þ When you hear God’s voice you will be strong.
Þ You will be able to easily break the strongholds of life.
Þ You will be able to walk through fiery tests and stay unharmed.
There are two dimensions of faith:
THE WORD OF FAITH
«But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or “’Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach)» (Romans, 10: 6-8)
The Bible also states that everything God does endures forever. Nobody is able to destroy or cancel what God makes and builds. For this reason nobody was able to harm Jesus before the appointed time, when Jesus Himself gave up His soul. Jesus was protected by God the Father because he followed the leading and the guidance of the Father.
Usually, we never dedicate time to something unless we realise its advantage and strict necessity for us. When we realise what we are losing by not understanding and hearing God’s voice, then we can become zealous and motivated to do our best in order to dedicate time and attention to it.
You must understand that satan is a thief and given a smallest chance he will take away all our privileges and opportunities in God.
What do we really mean when we ask ourselves: «What is God’s will for me?» The majority of people want to know: «What is God’s plan for me in this situation? What would be the right decision in this situation?»
We want to receive some directions and instructions from God in various life situations. We want to know God’s voice, since knowing His voice leads to knowing His will. God also wants every one of us to know His will in all things.
