Press On and Believe 继续前进、继续相信
Author: Dea. Dorothy Lim
“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. ”
There are times in our life when we are put in bad situations or even face adversities that we certainly cannot manage through. Why does He allow us through such situations? Aren’t we God fearing and God abiding children?
As much as I claim that I have a big Faith in my God but I am weak and I asked God why did He not bless me more and exempt me from such situations? Why does my God still allow me to be in bad situations and did not protect me from them? Then I read in (Psalm 34:19) “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all”.
People who are righteous and walking closely with the Lord still experience adversity in this world. No one is exempted. But the good news is the Lord promises to deliver us as His children out of and through our afflictions when we believe and trust in Him. God wants to transform our life through adversity. Why? It produces character. There will always be difficult things that we must overcome in every stage of our life, and God wants to use every single one of them to develop our character.
“We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)
When we keep pressing ahead, that’s when the love of God keeps getting poured into our hearts. People who have suffered much and didn’t give up have certain richness and strength about them. As we endure, God changes us. We become more loving, kind, patient — more like Christ. And that should give us hope. We don’t have to try hard to be Christians! Our transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit, who molds and shapes us through our trials.
So I still choose to press on and believe my God will carry me through! Amen!
文/林慧玲执事
翻译/王佩瑾师母
“义人虽有许多苦难，但耶和华搭救他脱离这一切。”
人的生命中总会遇到一些自身难以面对或跨越的问题和障碍。为什么神要让我们经历这一些呢？敬畏祂并且遵从祂旨意的儿女们不是应该有豁免权吗？
虽然我口中说我深信神的大能，但是终究软弱的我仍会质问，为什么神没有保佑我，让我遭受苦难。为什么祂还是让我陷入困境，没有保护我呢？然后，我在诗篇34:19 里读到：“义人虽有许多苦难，但耶和华搭救他脱离这一切。”
在这个世界上，即使是义人，与神亲近，仍会经历患难，无人可以幸免。但好消息是，身为神的儿女，当我们依靠祂，信任祂的时候，祂必定会帮助我们脱离困境。神要通过患难来改化我们的人生。为什么呢? 因为患难能产生毅力。人生的每个阶段都会有难题，而神要利用每一个难题来锻炼我们的毅力。
“不但这样，我们更以患难为荣；知道患难产生忍耐，忍耐产生毅力，毅力产生盼望；盼望是不会令人蒙羞的，因为神借着所赐给我们 的圣灵，把祂的爱浇灌在我们的心里。” （罗马书5:3-5）
当我们不畏惧，继续向前行的时候，神的爱就会浇灌我们的心灵。而那些虽然受尽患难却没有放弃的人，他们的生命是充满丰富的恩典和力量的。当我们在经历苦难时不放弃，神就在这当中改变我们。我们会因此变得更有爱心、更善良、更有耐心–更像耶稣基督。 单凭这点，我们就应该感到满怀希望。 我们不需要凭着自己的力量来改变自己。我们的改变是圣灵的工作，祂将通过我们的人生历练改变我们。
所以，我选择继续前进，继续相信神将帮助我脱离困境! 阿门!