A Note From Daniel Whyte III: Outside of My Father Daniel Whyte Jr., the Mark Anthony White That I Remember,Who We Called Tony, Was the Most Sincere About His Christian Faith, and He is Now in That Most Beautiful Place Called Heaven and His Days of Pain and Heartache and Sickness Are All Gone. Please Pray for His 5 Children That He Left Behind
For believers who earnestly seek to commit themselves to God’s will for their lives, it indeed becomes increasingly evident that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6a). Christians and non-Christians alike have heard “faith” discussed in so many ways—in such diverse forums—that the biblical meaning has been diluted by mixing with it secular definitions that describe lesser convictions. The referenced text of Hebrews 11:6 sheds some light on the type of faith required of the committed believer.
“For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
Sounds simple enough,doesn’t it? Basically, all you need to know is that God is a good God, right? But what about when circumstance and misfortune begin to press our souls? What about when that long-time dream is denied or deferred? It is at these times that life asks us who we really are and who do we know our Lord to be. Believing that God is, is to know in one’s heart that our heavenly Father is all that Scripture says He is. For example: it’s being totally convinced that God is good (Psalm 100:5; Nahum 1:7); God is caring (I Peter 5:7); God is righteous (Psalm 7:9; 119:137); God is all-powerful (Genesis 17:1); God is all-knowing (Isaiah 40:14); God is always with us (Jeremiah 23:23, 24; Psalm 37:25); God knows each of us personally (Matthew 10:30); God is merciful (Psalm 136); God is gracious (Psalm 116:5); God loves us (John 3:16)—just to name a relative few attributes. And further, by knowing these things, we rest in the assurance that our Lord always has our best interest at heart.
But what about those seemingly “crazy” detours that we’re forced to take? You know, those times when we are confident that we’re heading in the right direction when, out of the blue, something happens to hinder our stride. It is these times when we hold fast to that which we don’t see and wait for that which has yet to be manifested.
A look back at Hebrews 11:1 makes it clear to us that, among other things, possessing faith is essential for us to be able to walk honorably with the true, invisible God who has made us His own. This well-known verse asserts that our conviction consists of our confidence in the Lord, and that this same assurance is the proof of what we know to be true, all-be-it unseen.
But how can this be? How can we reach a point where we cease to have doubt about our ultimate well-being in any circumstance (Romans 8:28)? A good starting place would be to accept from God’s Word that, by His Spirit, He has given us faith with which to believe in Him (Romans 12:3; I Corinthians 12:7). Once we have accepted this truth, we’ll need to submit ourselves to God’s “maturity plan” for believers which consists of inconvenient and oftentimes, painful trials. The reason for this method has nothing to do with sadism, but a lot to do with the fact that our Lord, sadly, doesn’t get our undivided attention until our personal agendas are interrupted. This can sometimes mean grave disappointment which, in turn, can mean emotional hurt. But what we, as believers, can hold fast to is that all people undergo some type of hardship in their lives (I Corinthians 10:13a), but we have the benefit of these experiences resulting in wonderful blessings at key points in our lives.
So, there is a point to this after all. God communicates the stages of His process in His Word:
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:1-5).
These truths clearly steer believers from accepting the humanistic notion that events that occur in our lives are often happenstance. Indeed, occurrences in the Christian’s life, even some of those which strike us as insignificant, have meaning. These occurrences serve as both minor and major contributions to our respective developments as productive servants of the most High.
THE GAIN OF PAIN
Verse 3 of the above text alludes to the tribulations or trials that inevitably enter our lives from time to time. They appear for a myriad of reasons such as: (1) tests of our faith, (2) adversarial attacks, and (3) sin. Nevertheless, our God is able to turn these adverse situations into great advantage for His children, if we trust Him (Psalm 37:3). Such trials often bring with them difficulty and heartache, In fact, the Lord consistently impacts our sensitivities just enough to make us stop and, if we are wise, become introspective and examine ourselves for such things as priority (i.e., Who’s really number one in our lives?); purity (i.e., Are we ignoring some habitual sin in our lives?); purpose (i.e., Are we carrying out the duties that the Holy Spirit has convicted us to?).
WAITING ON THE LORD
Tribulation triggers the exercising of our patience (Romans 5:3b). A new trial not only requires the endurance capacity that we presently possess but also that which only God, and not we, know that we have. This waiting can be the hardest part, and sometimes spiritually dangerous, as we tend to steer toward carnal comforts (eg.: unhealthy relationships, compulsive self-abuse, withdrawal from fellowship). Again, there is a fruitful purpose to this. James 1:3-4 states that “the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect (complete) and entire, wanting nothing.” We see here that the trials that God allows to impact our lives, force us to begin to rely on that which is not temporary and that which we cannot lose—the Lord Himself. We become complete by attaching the placentas of our souls directly to Him by feeding on His Word and by consistently praying. Our Lord wants us to tap into a direct feed as oppose to relying on indirect and occasional transmissions of His nourishment. It is good for us to remember that God’s schedule, no doubt, is very different from our own timetable. He contemplates the entire season, while we’re entranced with but a moment of a day.
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).
Romans 5:4a informs us of the result of patience. And it is that time which we can look back in our lives and be reminded of God’s faithful deliverances. It is the proof of the fact that, in Christ, we are overcomers (John 16:33); indeed, solid proof, as we are the ones who have been made victorious. In order for us to obtain this knowledge of both crutches, He disallows our spouses or other close friends from meeting our needs, no matter how well-intentioned they may be. Our favorite pastimes and hobbies often lack appeal during these times. Career goals strike us as meaningless. At the cost of our discomfort, our loving God is greatly blessing us to see what we should always see—at all times, sunshine or rain. He’s all we have. With each trial we see more and more clearly that our Lord can always be trusted.
God uses each tribulation to enhance our knowledge base so that when the next challenge comes along we have a genuine confidence, not based on some pretense of clairvoyance, but one solely based on our Father’s impeccable track record. In a nutshell, we take the sentiment expressed in a very popular spiritual:
I don’t believe
He brought me this far
To leave me
(from the song, “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired”)
EXPECTING GOD’S BEST
The Lord preserves us as we face painful ordeals, as we faithfully reside in Him. This preservation plants within us an earnest expectation (Philippians 1:20a) that all shall be well for us because we and our world are in His hands. Because He said that He would be with us, because He’s never let us down, we honour Him for His faithfulness by steadily anticipating His conclusion to the matters of our lives. Romans 5:5a states that, if we persevere, our Lord will not “leave us hanging.” We will not be fools for having trusted Him. After all, He will be to us what He is: faithful and true (Revelation 19:11). As a result, we learn to look for the good that God has for us in the midst of a desperate situation. We look for His good, and in His time, we obtain it.
THE PURPOSE OF THE PROCESS
Certainly, God walks (or carries) us through this process to develop us into what He created us to be for His glory. But there’s an additional purpose to all of this, and it typifies His loving heart. You see, God uses our refined selves to further impact this world with His love. Indeed, He uses our tribulation to give us a divinely-inspired compassion for others. Second Corinthians 1:4 describes God as the One “Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” Our Lord creates within us the ability to lovingly empathize with others. This type of caring is not limited to the “There, but for the grace of God, go I” school of thought. But it is based on unselfish motivations that incline us to seek to relieve others of burdens (Romans 12:15) that we may very well never have. It is true that God is steadily molding our natural selfish selves into more perfect servants (Philippians 1:6). You may recall that after all Job had suffered, it was after he displayed a servant’s attitude and prayed for his fickle friends, when God greatly blessed him with more than he ever had (Job 42:10). Despite his humanity, Job trusted God (Job 13:15). This is the enduring trust that takes us to a higher level and closer to His likeness.
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