Message from Mary & Jay Hendricks, Elementary & High School Teachers

We found this devotional online at http://www.dontaskthefish.com/2014/09/26/4-reasons-god-allows-you-to-experience-trials/.  Somehow it seems to speak to us and our current situation at PC as we seek God’s guidance and strength.

4 Reasons God Allows You To Experience Trials

Sometimes God brings you to the end of your rope so that you might discover his inexhaustible power. We learn this from Paul:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 ESV

As I reflect on Paul’s words, I see four reasons God allows us to experience trials:

1. To help us understand and experience his incredible power.
   Paul reminds “God raises the dead.” Implication? There’s nothing going on in your life that is too tough for him.
2. To remind us that he has delivered us and that he will deliver us again.
   Look back on your life and you can probably remember times when “God came through.” The Christian looks back to look forward. Looking back we remember how God has delivered us, so we look forward in confidence to his help in the days ahead.
3. To urge us to set our hope on God. 
   The nature of Christian hope is not wishful thinking, but a confident expectation. God wants you to hope in him because you cannot make it without Him!
4. To remind us that our prayers matter.
   Who do you know who is going through a tough time? Stop and pray for that person right now. Your prayers make a difference. They help the person who is struggling and indirectly they help the people who are blessed through the person you pray for.

If it’s going to be, it’s up to me! Not exactly. God allows trials to come our way to teach us that we cannot make it without him. It’s when we come to the end of our rope that we discover his inexhaustible power.

Message from Harold Harmon, High School Teacher

Psalms 150:  Praise the Lord!  Praise god in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament!  Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His excellent greatness!  Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp!  Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!  Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals!  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise ye the Lord!

God really does inhabit the praises of His people.  When you praise God, you are recognizing your fallible state in relationship to the infallible creator of the universe.  I find that my praises bring me into a closer relationship with God and it reminds me that everything I have or accomplish is through His guidance and empowerment.  Prayer gives God permission to work on our behalf and is an important element of our prayer life; but praise releases God’s blessings on our life and elevates us into God’s presence.