JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q4. How Do Your Struggles Honor God? - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?

If I depend on God and my eyes are focused on God throughout my suffering, I give honor and glory to Him. If I focus on my pain and say "WHY ME?" there's no glory to God. We are told that Jesus was made perfect through suffering and that when we are rejected and insulted because of His name, count it all joy. As a believer, I realize that many trials are necessary to strengthen my faith and dependence on God. I am not at the point where I consider it all joy yet.

You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?

In a sense, you are laying your struggles and sins at the feet of God. You are unburdoning yourself to him and that shows trust and faith in His promises to take care of us. He wants us to 'give it up to Him'
I also think that you can appreciate His grace more if you've been through personal struggles.

If you are struggling with your faith and you pour those struggles out before God, aren't you showing faith in Him that He will help you overcome? Isn't that honoring Him?

My family are not Christians and have to a large extent repudiated me because I am. I cannot bend or change my love for Jesus because of this. I prefer to honour Him who shed His blood for me and for them too. I give honour to God in making my life with Him before all things.

Making that sacrifice brings value to my struggles because He is the Truth, He has the words of eternal Life, where else would I go? He has changed my life and made it what it is, which is a whole lot better than what it was. He is the value I want, to put it crudely. So I will follow Him and pray for my family to gain Him.

When we overcome obstacles and struggle with events in our walk with Christ, we honor God. We could have chosen an easier path, a simple route that had no adversity—but we would have denied him who was sacrificed as a sin offering for us. When we take His road and hold true despite the ordeals and sufferings we may face, we honor his name and our sufferings glorify his greatness.

Our struggles bring us closer to Christ. John Piper said it well “Christ is magnified most clearly in our lives by the way we experience him in our losses”.

“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God” (1Pe 3:17-18a)

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?


Becoming a believer never assured us of an easy road. Many times we think that because we are walking with God that the rest of our lives on this earth would be easy. God can only be glorified and honored if others see His power in us. When we face strugges, our reaction to them is what the people will see and when they see peace in the times of adversity - - they know that God is the one doing that in us.

Value to our struggles because when we show God's strength and honor Him even in the bad times - we know we are doing God's will that He mapped out in His word. He wants us to take our troubles to Him and leave them with Him to work out.

We are most like Jesus when we totally hand over everything in our life - the good and the struggles, the joy and the suffering - for God's use and purpose.
Just like Jesus did - and God used it greatly for everyone's benefit. It shows complete trust in the Father who loves us. To pour out as a drink offering is to give it completely into God's hand - all of it.

You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?

well i'm reminded of Peter and his impatience. (John 21) when Jesus had risen from the dead and had made himself known to the apostles stayed with them for awhile. told them that he'd be back. Peter after having waited for awhile decides to go back to his fishing (something that he knew) not of men like Jesus had told him but of fish. here's Jesus on the shore having breakfast of fish and bread. Peter jumps out of the boat and runs in the water towards him once John mentioned that it was Jesus.
I was the same way.i had prayed very hard for a long time for a better life, etc. and thought that it wasn't going to happen for it had been so long. so then started to pray for GOD to come and get me. that i had had enough. Jesus answered my prayer when the devil started to put suicide in my thoughts. something keep holding me back. GOO (telling me what will happen to my daughter if i go?)i had a brain tumor removed and at that point my life would be changed forever. for the better i think anyway.
maybe i can't do everything as before but it's nothing compaired to before with the demons i was carrying.
i feel ashamed that i wasn't more patient and appreciate a lot more than before. i still have a way to go but it's for the better.

If you overcome the struggles and obstacles after giving them to God and praying over them, God is honored because you are telling him that you can't do it on your own and that you need Him. It shows that your faith is stronger knowing that He can accomplish what you can't. Praise Him!!!
For any struggle, just to know that God will calm any storm is of great value. For nothing is impossible through God and His faithfulness to us. He said He would never leave or forsake us. We just need to ask...
Others will see how God has helped you through and turn to Him also when they are struggling.

You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God?

I think the pouring out of my struggles before God shows two things. The first is that my struggles are placed at His feet, not because He does not know of them but because I know He is the one who can deliver me from them. Secondly, I think that my focus on Him in my life would show God who I count on for help, who I seek assistance, wisdom, and ultimately deliverance from.

God is to be our constant point of reference for all. In all things we are to acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths. (My Paraphrase of Proverbs 3:6, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.") When we do this He is honored because we surrender all to Him, we acknowledge His power and presence over all, and we acknowledge His sovereignty. In my book that says it all.

How does that bring value to your struggles?

I think doing the above shows acknowledgement not so much of the struggle but the victory. Therein lies the value. Struggles make us strong; helps us to develop as Christians. This is noted in Jam 1:3-4, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

Here is value, value expressed through victory, victory possible only through Christ. Each of us can go to Him, place all at His feet and ask for His will to be done in each area. It is then that we wait and look for the answer, never doubting that it will come, that all will be resolved. Here again is the value, not in the struggle, in the victory.

My struggles honor God only when I keep my focus on Him and His Word. When I go through tough times if I turn to God and trust Him to give me wisdom on the way I should go, this brings honor to Him. When circumstances around me are dark if I count on His promises and keep the faith than others will see and this will bring honor to Him.


This brings value to my struggles because others are watching to see if the Christian will still depend upon his God when times are rough. If we look at our tough times as the world does than what do we have to offer them, but if they see us still rejoicing in these struggles they will know we have something the world does not possess.

Lesson 4 Q 4
(a) If I were to look at my sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, that honors God by showing others that I live my life for Him. A way of proclaiming the Gospel.
(b) That brings value to my struggles by totally committing to serve Christ it brings others to Him. Sacrifice for the faith of others is a joyous reward. Amen?

If you were to look at your struggles as a drink offering to God , how would
that honour God?How does that bring value to your struggles?

I believe that if we looked at our struggles as a drink offering to God , we
would with more perserverence and boldness take up our cross , daily,
and follow him , instead of complaining in the midst of them.

This would bring value to my struggles, because I would not be going
through these trials in vain, but know that the trying of my faith worketh
patience. Hebrews says, " Cast not away your confidence, which hath great
recompense of reward".

I read that the drink offering was usually wine poured out over an animal sacrifice. It wasn’t the actual sacrifice being offered, but was symbolic of the complete devotion of that offering to God. When it hit the fire, it immediately just went up in steam.

When I “hit the fire” of the struggles and obstacles, God asks that I completely let go of myself to Him and pour myself out into sacrifices of praise-filled faith that I offer in the midst of the fire. And it truly is a sacrifice to praise Him when you’re suffering! As I choose more and more of Him and less and less of me, I am “vaporized”. My willingness to do that says, “I totally trust You, Lord, and I give myself up in devotion to Your glory.” Such worship magnifies Him, not the suffering. That attitude honors Him, and He will honor that attitude.

Every test and trial the Lord allows is for His good will in my life. He’s working on building something into me, making me more Christ-like, proving His faithfulness to me, demonstrating His power through me to others. That end result is definitely worth it.

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God?

Every trial that we go through is a stepping stone to get us closer and closer to the way God wants us to be. He is with us always he says in his word even unto the end. He proves not just to us as we go through the trial that he is more than able to care for us, but also to those around us that he will never leave us or forsake us. He gets the honor because alone we can do nothing. He is our strength and our help. He is our protection and our provider. What we go through in our life is nothing compared to what Jesus went through for us. It honors God because he sees our faith our hope and that we will endure, We are trusting him for our Joy and our Peace. In the end the trust the truth and the worship we do is to his glory. It brings us closer to God.

How does that bring value to your struggles?
It moves us ever closer to God for we use our faith our hope and all our energy to get closer to him at times of trials. We pray more we reach and call out to him more during the trial this should not be but it is truth. We work on our personal relationship with God during a trial more than when things are going good for us. As we get closer to Jesus and do all we need to do the trials will not stop there is never a time we will not need more of God in our lives. I thank God for the trials that help me to grow and show me that through him all things are possible. Praise your Holy name Jesus.

Quote

[color=blue]4a.) Paul writes: "[/color][color=purple]To keep me from becoming conceited because these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me[/color][color=blue]." (2 Corinthians 12:7)[/color]
4b.) (2:17) How does that bring value to your struggles?
[color=blue]4b.) Paul further writes: "[/color][color=purple]That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong[/color][color=blue]." (2 Corinthians 12:10)[/color]

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God?
When you are going through trials and struggles, what better time is there to depend on God. When you come out of your trial and your faith is still strong, that gives honor and glory to God. I saw this quote a few months ago and saved it………seems like it fits this question. “God will not be absent when His people are on trial; he will stand in court as their advocate, to plead on their behalf.”

How does that bring value to your struggles?
Others see my struggles and see how I depended on God to get me through them. Another quote that I love: “Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you.”

To be able to overcome our adversities, and yet be able to rejoice in our salvation, shows that we are finally beginning to mature in our walk of faith. Once we learn to extract the good from the bad we can truly begin to honor God. This brings value to us because we get more and more pure as we are refined in the fire.

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?

Its during the times of our struggles to get through our trials that we depend the most on God. Its how we handle while going through that shows others that we trust God to see us through to victory.

It makes us stronger and helps us to trust him even more. Brings us closer to God where we should always desire to be.

Q4. (2:17) You have gone through struggles and obstacles to your faith. If you were to look at your sufferings as a "drink offering" poured out before God, how does that honor God? How does that bring value to your struggles?

I have never looked at my struggles in that light before. I went through them determined to keep my eyes on Christ but since they didn't seem that they were specifically related to by Christianity, ie unemployment was because of Christianity but because the company cut back employees, marriage problems weren't because of my faith etc. However I was determined to honor God in them by acting the way I believed Christ would have me act, I suppose that is honoring God.
All my struggles have had value in that they have been faith building in that He has always seen me through them.