I’ve often heard people say, “Don’t pray for patience; you will get tribulation!” Is that true? What that implies is that God will send difficulty into your life to refine your character. I wonder how many people think like this? Jesus spoke directly to this question in Matt. 7:9-11:
[Mat 7:9-11 KJV] 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
What is this verse telling us? Jesus is saying that God is a good God who will not defraud our prayers. If you ask for something as basic as a piece of bread, He will not give you a stone and say, “you don’t realize it, but that stone is good for you.” Yet how many people think that God uses calamity allegedly for our good, to make us better Christians.
It is common to hear people explain away their troubles with the surmising that God is “teaching them something.” I heard a couple say this about a cancer diagnosis. I remember another lady who insisted God took her teenage daughter in a fiery car crash. I’ve listened to pastors comfort bereaving parents after the death of an infant this way. They would say, “God looked down through time and saw this baby would stray from Him and go to hell; therefore, God took this baby before that could happen.” If that doesn’t make your stomach turn, then you have a serious misunderstanding of the gospel.
In John 14:26, Jesus made the following statement:
[Jhn 14:26 KJV] 26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Notice what that verse says. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will teach us all things. That means if God wants to teach you something, He will use the Holy Spirit to do it. Not cancer. Not calamity or trouble. John 10:10 tells us that the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. If you are experiencing one of those three things, the devil is doing it to you and not God. The devil is not God’s substitute teacher, so that the Holy Spirit can have a day off.
What about praying for patience? In John 16:13, Jesus said, “in this world, you will have tribulation.” Whether you pray for patience or not! So you might as well pray for patience because after patience has its perfect work in your life, you will come out as fine gold on the blessing side of things! Be encouraged then and no longer downcast. Realize that God isn’t “messing” with you in your troubles. Stop asking, “God, why?” When you do that, you are accusing God of what the enemy is doing. Stand in faith. Endure the contradiction. Move forward toward the better day that God has for you. You won’t be disappointed.
