Asking for Trials

I was introduced to a poem this week by John Piper. It is entitled The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God. You can listen to him read it on his website or download and read it yourself. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/2441_The_Misery_of_Job_and_the_Mercy_of_God/
It is a retelling of the story of Job. At the end Job is summarizing his life story and he says:

. . ."To sieze

This moment would, I think, be here

An ample recompense. One year

Of misery, he thought, is not

Too long, to see of heaven what

I've seen, and watch the pow'r to heal,

And loving, feel what I now feel."

Do we stop and think at the end of a trial and actually rejoice in the hardship for the lesson we learned? Later in the poem, Job is speaking to his daughter, Jemimah:

"Jemimah, what I think

Is this: The Lord has made me drink

The cup of his severity

That he might kindly show to me

What I would be when only he

Remains in my calamity.

Unkindly he has kindly shown

that he was not my hope alone."

Is He your hope alone? Jim Berg is his course "Quieting a Noisy Soul" uses the illustration of an emergency room. Just as the doctors and nurses in the ER would help the most critical patient first, God often addresses the most miserable condition first. Our physical trials are usually not our (or someone around us) most miserable condition. Often that is a need for salvation or restored fellowship with Him.

If you're going through a trial, remember that God is at work. Take comfort in knowing that He is with you. Look for the reason to rejoice at the end of the trial!