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Luis Alberto Alves
Is it easy to have faith in times of pain? When does it feel like the ground has opened up under our feet and the few friends disappear before us? Do you know when you look around you and realize that you are alone, you only have the support of your family and no one else? It is what people call in the evangelical jargon a “desert”.
As described in Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” The bad day comes. Sooner or later, for men or women, young, old, rich, poor, famous or anonymous. He arrives suddenly without you being able to react.
The same sunny day, which shortly afterwards becomes full of dark clouds and the storm breaks quickly, offering no chance of taking shelter in a safe place. The problem is that many people imagine that the bad day comes just for others. She will be forever sailing in calm sea, without wave. Just enjoying the good and the best.
Old age
This is not how the wheel turns in the heavenly realms, where fierce battles between angels and demons take place. From the high heavens, God accompanies every movement. He knows deeply what is inside our heart. Of the lies, in the form of a prayer, that we present to the Lord, in the vain intention of calling his attention to our cause.
People are used to manipulating others since childhood. See that babies cry to get their parents' attention or to get something. Unconsciously, they discover that if they cry a lot, their father or mother will come to their rescue. This type of behavior continues into childhood, adolescence, youth and even old age.
We Christians do the same with God. We pray in a threatening tone, so that Jesus Christ blesses us in something that is good for us, but for God it is an abyss, it is defeat, it is tragedy, it will cause us unhappiness in the future. However, like a child full of tantrums, we do not accept God's refusal. He has to attend to us.
Match
With the arrival of a distorted gospel, where it is Jesus Christ who needs to adapt to our tastes and not the other way around, millions of Christians stopped believing that the bad day exists. They imagine it's just for others. In our home and family, everything will work out fine. We won't have any fights. That is, like a beautiful woman, who will never have PMS. Pure lie, because PMS affects every woman.
The problem is that few Christians don't understand why Jesus Christ allowed us to go through the evil day. Soon we think that the Lord is an executioner, that he loves to see his children suffering under terrible fights, of wars in the family, at work, at school, in the neighborhood. We only look at the bad side of history, never the good.
Analyze life as a championship, where every day we play a game for 24 hours, even on holidays. Every game we need to get on the field and play well. All without rest. No right to time off or any perks. You have to play and that's it. It's not worth pouting. Living is not easy. Jesus Christ said that in the world we would have tribulation.
Chemical
Problems annoy, leave us in a bad mood, with our heads down. We just want happiness. As if life were just sunny days and a breeze blowing in our faces. It's not like this. Struggles enable us to face and overcome the challenges that will appear along the way. Imagine if the student only learned in school that 2+2= 4. And when they were faced with trigonometry, algebra, with chemistry classes?
Spiritually, Jesus Christ places lessons on the path of his servants so that they evolve, know how to react in the face of wars they will face, whether in the family, at work, at school, within the ministry itself and in the neighborhood. The Lord told us that this world lies in the evil one. That is, it is contaminated by the actions of evil. They aim at the destruction of the Christian's faith through various strategies calculated by darkness.
The soldier spends some time inside the military academy learning theories that he will put into practice when he goes to the streets. Inside, everything is easy. But when the time comes to put what he has learned to use, he will need agility and judgment. Inside the academy it is allowed to make mistakes, not out here. For he may lose his own life in a botched approach.
Appearance
While the pilot is studying flight techniques in the equipment that simulates an airplane, he can make a mistake in a certain action. Because the flight simulator is here on earth. But when he is in command of an aircraft in the sky, his life and that of the passengers could be lost if the plane crashes. There is no room for murmuring there. Saying that that device is outdated is meaningless.
There is a time for the Christian to sit alone in learning. As the Lord said through James, chapter 1, verses 22/25: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. He who hears the word but does not put it into practice is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes out and immediately forgets what he looks like.
There are people within evangelical churches who have been sitting down for several years, just listening without putting into practice what they have assimilated. They imagine that they serve God. Is not true. Jesus Christ did not call anyone to stand still like a statue in his gospel. A freed Christian has light and it needs to shine where darkness prevails. Together with troubled people, in need of help.
snakes
As no one can deceive God, He notices the soft body and soon sends proof, which many people imagine is the work of the devil. It is not. The Lord allows difficulty for the servant to grow. Be the difference. So that its light shines brightly on those who are trapped in the clutches of darkness. Some people refuse to accept Christ's orders. They prefer to just stay in stewardship. Without doing anything for the gospel.
It's easy to just ask others for help at the time of difficulty. Some call servants and servants of God during the night, because they are afraid of someone who has manifested himself with evil spirits. They don't remember that Jesus Christ gave us spiritual authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and even if someone puts something poisonous for us to drink, nothing will happen to us.
And the learning time for years in the gospel was forgotten? What about the talent Jesus put in your hands? Where did you stay? The bad day comes for the person to leave the comfort zone. Of depending on others in the spiritual area. Therefore, if you haven't known the bitter taste of a bad day, be prepared that it will come for your own good. All with the permission of Jesus Christ, so that you may be approved and proven as a warrior of the Lord.
Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.
