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We learn more in our valley experiences than on our mountaintops.
 
This has proven true for me time and time again on the Race. There have been so many mountaintops in the past ten and a half months, both literally and figuratively.
 
I felt God’s love deeply when I giddily saw Mount Everest from the plane window, when I gazed out over all of El Salvador from the highest point in the country and when I plunged myself off the edge of a 500-foot bridge into a beautiful gorge in the Himalayas. 


(Getting ready to bungee jump in Nepal with Erica). 

I learned about the grace of God when I watched 30 Cambodian prisoners and glue-sniffing street children in Honduras decide to give their lives to Jesus. I was filled with the joy of the Lord when my nursery school students in Rwanda would rush to give me hugs the minute I walked in. I was hit with just how big God is when I watched a demon flee from a young girl and an elderly woman be healed of her illness.
 
Lots of mountaintops. I experienced God in ways this year that I never could of dreamed. I learned a lot from the highs, the favorite moments and the exciting adventures. 

But there were a lot of valleys too. And I learned even more from the valleys than the mountaintops. It was in the tears of frustration, feelings of homesickness and moments of helplessness and heartbreak that my relationship with Christ grew the most.

God knows when we face horrendous situations. He hears our cries. None of us are immune to feelings of hopelessness. Hard times are certainly not fun, but they have a powerful purpose. I believe that many times God allows us to face trials to test our faith. It is in the suffering that we are forced to seek God, and it is there that we find strength and refreshment. Sometimes God will do whatever it takes to bring us into a more intimate relationship with Him.
 
“Adversity, anguish, trials, tribulations, and heartaches operate as lessons in the school of experience. They bring us to a place of new insight and understanding; they can alter our perception of the world and of God, and lead us to change our behavior. The Lord, of course, is the ultimate Teacher. He is the One to whom we must look for the meaning of any lesson related to adversity.” –Charles Stanley
 
One of the ways that God still speaks is through His Word, and I love how we can read a certain verse or passage on a certain day that is exactly what we needed to hear from the Lord. In my last blog, I talked about how I was having a rough go of it here in India smack in the middle of Month 11. Conveniently my daily readings the past few days have been on suffering. Just what I needed.
 

 


“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad-for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”
–1 Peter 4:12-13

 
My devotional went over eight different reasons that God allows suffering in our lives, and it was so helpful to me that I wanted to share parts of it with you here.

  1. God uses suffering to get our attention. Adversity helps us to refocus on God. When God sees that we are moving toward sin and disobedience, He allows us to experience pressure so that we will go back to Him.
     
  2. God uses suffering to develop personal righteousness and maturity. As Christians we often remain unaware of the sin that remains in our lives. God wants to develop maturity in us and reveal lingering issues. We learn perseverance in our trials, and even though we suffer we know God is developing our character.
     
  3. God uses suffering for the purposes of pruning. Pruning is God’s process of cutting back the useless parts of our life that will never be productive for His kingdom.
“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”
–John 15:2
  1. God uses suffering to teach us obedience.
     
  2. God uses suffering to teach us to trust Him. Faith, when tested by fire, is more precious than gold, which is perishable. 
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
–1 Peter 1:6-7 
  1. God uses suffering to bring about continuous dependence on Him. God is glorified most in our weakness because we must rely on Him.
     
  2. God allows suffering to purify the heart and to make us holy. We share in the holiness of Christ. It is God’s goal for us to be more like Jesus. Through our suffering He purifies our hearts, allowing His holiness to shine through our character.
     
  3. God allows suffering to teach us to give thanks in everything. We may not feel thankful, but we should have gratitude knowing that no matter what happens God works all things together for good, and that one day we will be with our Savior in heaven and He will wipe the tears from our eyes.   


Adapted from Life Principles Daily Bible, with Charles Stanley