Is God Sending You a Wake-up Call?
Bad things happen to good people, and most of the time we can't figure out why.
Once we understand that as believers, we have been saved from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ, we can rule out the possibility that God is punishing us. We are his redeemed children now and no longer subject to his punishment.
However, there's another possibility we rarely consider. Maybe God is sending us a wake-up call.
"Why did God allow this?"
When personal tragedy hits, we can be sure a good God doesn't cause it, but he does allow it to happen. We wonder, "Why did God allow this?"
That's exactly the question God wants us to ask.
After our salvation, God's second goal for our life is to conform us to the character of his son, Jesus Christ. We all stray off that path sometimes.
We can stray through complacency, through busyness, or simply because we believe we're already "good enough." After all, we're saved. We know we can't get to heaven by doing good works, so nothing more is required of us, we reason.
As a human rationalization, that seems to make sense, but it doesn't satisfy God. God has higher standards for us as Christians. He wants us to be like Jesus.
"But I wasn't sinning ..."
When something bad happens, our gut reaction is to protest the unfairness of it. We can't think of anything we did to deserve it, and doesn't the Bible say God protects believers?
Certainly our salvation is secure, but we see from Bible figures like Job and Paul that our health or finances may not be, and we learn from Stephen and the other martyrs that our life may not be safe either.
We need to dig deeper. Were we engaging in a reckless, unhealthy lifestyle, even if what we were doing wasn't technically sinful? Were we being unwise stewards with our money or talents? Have we been excusing wrong behavior because everybody else is doing it?
Had we let Jesus Christ become an afterthought, something we attended to on Sunday morning but pushed down on our priority list the rest of the week, behind our job, our recreation or even our family?
These are hard questions to ask because we thought we were doing fine. We thought we were obeying God to the best of our ability. Wouldn't a simple tap on the shoulder have been sufficient, instead of the pain we're going through?
Except we tend to shrug off taps on the shoulder. It's likely we received several and ignored them. Most of the time it takes something truly miserable to get our attention and wake us up.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!"
Nothing makes us ask questions like suffering. When we're finally humble enough for honest introspection, the answers come.
To get those answers, we pray. We read the Bible. We meditate on our wake-up call. We have long, thoughtful conversations with our godly friends. God rewards our sincerity by giving us wisdom and understanding.
Gradually we discover how we need to clean up our act. We realize where we were deficient or even dangerous and are shocked we didn't see it before. As bad as our wake-up call was, it still rescued us in time. With relief and thanksgiving, we sense that things could have turned out much worse if God had not allowed this event to bring us to a complete halt.
Then we ask God to help us put our life back together and learn the lesson he intended from the experience. Confessing our anger and hurt, we resolve to be more vigilant from now on so no more wake-up calls are needed.
Seeing Your Wake-Up Call Accurately
The Christian life isn't always pleasant, and anyone who has been at it for several decades can tell you that we learn the most about God and ourselves during our valley experiences, not on the mountaintops.
That's why it's important to recognize your wake-up call as a learning experience and not as punishment. That becomes clear when you remember that God is motivated by love and has tremendous concern for you.
Correction is needed when you get off course. A wake-up call forces you to rethink your priorities. It reminds you what really matters in life.
God loves you so much he takes a constant, personal interest in your life. He wants to keep you close to him, so close that you talk with him and depend on him all through your day, every day. And isn't that the kind of heavenly father you long for?
Full Version: Is God Sending You A Wake-up Call?
the only time God will send us a wake up call is when we are about to go off the path he has us on or we are holding on to a sin he wants us to let go off
also it says in the book of james
James 1 English standard version
13 when someone is tempted he should not say i am being tempted by God because God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone
then we go to the book of job were satan comes before god and god says have you considered my servant my servant job that ther is none like him on earth a blame less and up right man who fears God and turns away from evil
god wil put a hedge around us like he did with job and god wil not let anything happen to us
he does though send as a wake up call for a reason
he did this with me when i made a big mess of my life to the point were he had to shake me up to show me who i was dealing with and ever since i had that wake up call i have not looked back or allowed history to repeat its self in my life
i tend to know do what job did stay clear from evil
when personal tragedy hits it can be for any reason and what i notice is when personal tragedy hits this shows god who we really are the ones who know god stick close to god but the ones who tend to blame god will blame god for what ever bad thing happens in their life with out steping back and looking at the big picture
satan roars like a lion he is sniffing us out just like he did with peter and if he wants to test us he does not need permission from god to do this though what ever the enemy steels the lord will give this back to us just like with what happend with job job lost everything and the lord gave everything he lost back to job
though what i found hard to believe when i was reading what happend to job why would god alow that to happen to job it took time for it to sink in to were i was able to see what god was doing hear i said to my self he is a mean god for alowing a man like job who feared him who was blame les and who turned from evil he had a family he had his kids around him he had animals and he was well liked and wel respected but when he lost everything to the point of his own kids dying this faith full man was starting to loose it and i would not have blammed him poor job he did not even know it was god alowing the devil to do this
the lord said to satan behold all that he has is in your power only upon himself put not forth thy hand
i cal the character building
this is just how i see this for my self
God bless from damo
also it says in the book of james
James 1 English standard version
13 when someone is tempted he should not say i am being tempted by God because God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone
then we go to the book of job were satan comes before god and god says have you considered my servant my servant job that ther is none like him on earth a blame less and up right man who fears God and turns away from evil
god wil put a hedge around us like he did with job and god wil not let anything happen to us
he does though send as a wake up call for a reason
he did this with me when i made a big mess of my life to the point were he had to shake me up to show me who i was dealing with and ever since i had that wake up call i have not looked back or allowed history to repeat its self in my life
i tend to know do what job did stay clear from evil
when personal tragedy hits it can be for any reason and what i notice is when personal tragedy hits this shows god who we really are the ones who know god stick close to god but the ones who tend to blame god will blame god for what ever bad thing happens in their life with out steping back and looking at the big picture
satan roars like a lion he is sniffing us out just like he did with peter and if he wants to test us he does not need permission from god to do this though what ever the enemy steels the lord will give this back to us just like with what happend with job job lost everything and the lord gave everything he lost back to job
though what i found hard to believe when i was reading what happend to job why would god alow that to happen to job it took time for it to sink in to were i was able to see what god was doing hear i said to my self he is a mean god for alowing a man like job who feared him who was blame les and who turned from evil he had a family he had his kids around him he had animals and he was well liked and wel respected but when he lost everything to the point of his own kids dying this faith full man was starting to loose it and i would not have blammed him poor job he did not even know it was god alowing the devil to do this
the lord said to satan behold all that he has is in your power only upon himself put not forth thy hand
i cal the character building
this is just how i see this for my self
God bless from damo
QUOTE (Fere @ Sep 3 2008, 11:13 AM) 
Is God Sending You a Wake-up Call?
Bad things happen to good people, and most of the time we can't figure out why.
Once we understand that as believers, we have been saved from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ, we can rule out the possibility that God is punishing us. We are his redeemed children now and no longer subject to his punishment.
However, there's another possibility we rarely consider. Maybe God is sending us a wake-up call.
"Why did God allow this?"
When personal tragedy hits, we can be sure a good God doesn't cause it, but he does allow it to happen. We wonder, "Why did God allow this?"
That's exactly the question God wants us to ask.
After our salvation, God's second goal for our life is to conform us to the character of his son, Jesus Christ. We all stray off that path sometimes.
We can stray through complacency, through busyness, or simply because we believe we're already "good enough." After all, we're saved. We know we can't get to heaven by doing good works, so nothing more is required of us, we reason.
As a human rationalization, that seems to make sense, but it doesn't satisfy God. God has higher standards for us as Christians. He wants us to be like Jesus.
"But I wasn't sinning ..."
When something bad happens, our gut reaction is to protest the unfairness of it. We can't think of anything we did to deserve it, and doesn't the Bible say God protects believers?
Certainly our salvation is secure, but we see from Bible figures like Job and Paul that our health or finances may not be, and we learn from Stephen and the other martyrs that our life may not be safe either.
We need to dig deeper. Were we engaging in a reckless, unhealthy lifestyle, even if what we were doing wasn't technically sinful? Were we being unwise stewards with our money or talents? Have we been excusing wrong behavior because everybody else is doing it?
Had we let Jesus Christ become an afterthought, something we attended to on Sunday morning but pushed down on our priority list the rest of the week, behind our job, our recreation or even our family?
These are hard questions to ask because we thought we were doing fine. We thought we were obeying God to the best of our ability. Wouldn't a simple tap on the shoulder have been sufficient, instead of the pain we're going through?
Except we tend to shrug off taps on the shoulder. It's likely we received several and ignored them. Most of the time it takes something truly miserable to get our attention and wake us up.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!"
Nothing makes us ask questions like suffering. When we're finally humble enough for honest introspection, the answers come.
To get those answers, we pray. We read the Bible. We meditate on our wake-up call. We have long, thoughtful conversations with our godly friends. God rewards our sincerity by giving us wisdom and understanding.
Gradually we discover how we need to clean up our act. We realize where we were deficient or even dangerous and are shocked we didn't see it before. As bad as our wake-up call was, it still rescued us in time. With relief and thanksgiving, we sense that things could have turned out much worse if God had not allowed this event to bring us to a complete halt.
Then we ask God to help us put our life back together and learn the lesson he intended from the experience. Confessing our anger and hurt, we resolve to be more vigilant from now on so no more wake-up calls are needed.
Seeing Your Wake-Up Call Accurately
The Christian life isn't always pleasant, and anyone who has been at it for several decades can tell you that we learn the most about God and ourselves during our valley experiences, not on the mountaintops.
That's why it's important to recognize your wake-up call as a learning experience and not as punishment. That becomes clear when you remember that God is motivated by love and has tremendous concern for you.
Correction is needed when you get off course. A wake-up call forces you to rethink your priorities. It reminds you what really matters in life.
God loves you so much he takes a constant, personal interest in your life. He wants to keep you close to him, so close that you talk with him and depend on him all through your day, every day. And isn't that the kind of heavenly father you long for?
Bad things happen to good people, and most of the time we can't figure out why.
Once we understand that as believers, we have been saved from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ, we can rule out the possibility that God is punishing us. We are his redeemed children now and no longer subject to his punishment.
However, there's another possibility we rarely consider. Maybe God is sending us a wake-up call.
"Why did God allow this?"
When personal tragedy hits, we can be sure a good God doesn't cause it, but he does allow it to happen. We wonder, "Why did God allow this?"
That's exactly the question God wants us to ask.
After our salvation, God's second goal for our life is to conform us to the character of his son, Jesus Christ. We all stray off that path sometimes.
We can stray through complacency, through busyness, or simply because we believe we're already "good enough." After all, we're saved. We know we can't get to heaven by doing good works, so nothing more is required of us, we reason.
As a human rationalization, that seems to make sense, but it doesn't satisfy God. God has higher standards for us as Christians. He wants us to be like Jesus.
"But I wasn't sinning ..."
When something bad happens, our gut reaction is to protest the unfairness of it. We can't think of anything we did to deserve it, and doesn't the Bible say God protects believers?
Certainly our salvation is secure, but we see from Bible figures like Job and Paul that our health or finances may not be, and we learn from Stephen and the other martyrs that our life may not be safe either.
We need to dig deeper. Were we engaging in a reckless, unhealthy lifestyle, even if what we were doing wasn't technically sinful? Were we being unwise stewards with our money or talents? Have we been excusing wrong behavior because everybody else is doing it?
Had we let Jesus Christ become an afterthought, something we attended to on Sunday morning but pushed down on our priority list the rest of the week, behind our job, our recreation or even our family?
These are hard questions to ask because we thought we were doing fine. We thought we were obeying God to the best of our ability. Wouldn't a simple tap on the shoulder have been sufficient, instead of the pain we're going through?
Except we tend to shrug off taps on the shoulder. It's likely we received several and ignored them. Most of the time it takes something truly miserable to get our attention and wake us up.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!"
Nothing makes us ask questions like suffering. When we're finally humble enough for honest introspection, the answers come.
To get those answers, we pray. We read the Bible. We meditate on our wake-up call. We have long, thoughtful conversations with our godly friends. God rewards our sincerity by giving us wisdom and understanding.
Gradually we discover how we need to clean up our act. We realize where we were deficient or even dangerous and are shocked we didn't see it before. As bad as our wake-up call was, it still rescued us in time. With relief and thanksgiving, we sense that things could have turned out much worse if God had not allowed this event to bring us to a complete halt.
Then we ask God to help us put our life back together and learn the lesson he intended from the experience. Confessing our anger and hurt, we resolve to be more vigilant from now on so no more wake-up calls are needed.
Seeing Your Wake-Up Call Accurately
The Christian life isn't always pleasant, and anyone who has been at it for several decades can tell you that we learn the most about God and ourselves during our valley experiences, not on the mountaintops.
That's why it's important to recognize your wake-up call as a learning experience and not as punishment. That becomes clear when you remember that God is motivated by love and has tremendous concern for you.
Correction is needed when you get off course. A wake-up call forces you to rethink your priorities. It reminds you what really matters in life.
God loves you so much he takes a constant, personal interest in your life. He wants to keep you close to him, so close that you talk with him and depend on him all through your day, every day. And isn't that the kind of heavenly father you long for?
Romans 8:28
God said in this world we will have trouble. He warned me recently of a thing and I expected something but was given Romans 8:28 so I would know that never mind the seemings, it will ultimately be for good...but right now it hurts....
To add to the above ...
Let's also not forget that God chastises those He loves. If we serve Him faithfully, there will be fire, not necessarily because we have sinned, but because we have been faithful, and He is calling us higher, and refining us. No discipline is pleasant for the moment, but our light afflictions (Paul's words, not mine ... they don't seem "light" while you go through them, I know that all too well) refine us according to His eternal will so we can shine even more than before. The apostles entered into their callings willingly, and they knew that there was a price to be paid. They weren't victims, they were conquerers, in those things, and through them, and because of them. As are we. If there is going to be a crown, there has to be a cross first.
Also, we do live on a sin-tainted planet, and things happen accordingly. People die, they get hurt, they get sick. Jobs are lost, relationships go through turmoil, finances get strapped, hard times come, it happens. We will not be excluded from that, even though God will be with us through these things. We live on a planet with billions of other people, there is no hiding from the effects of the behavior of others (as well as our own), no matter how much we'd like to.
Besides, how do you get true compassion if you never taste the touch of hard times that others go through? Jesus tasted it, all of it. And now He can have compassion on us, and save us through the very depths of our human experience, because He knows what it's like. And we can be there for others, because we've tasted what they're going through, and we know what it's like, and can be of true help.
And, how can He teach our hands to war, if we're not placed in battle? We have an enemy, and we are on his list. We do not struggle against flesh and blood, but spiritual strongholds that puff themselves up against the knowledge of God. It's on-the-job training, so do not lose heart, but stand firm.
If you're going through something, Jesus has already been there, and He understands. So trust in Him to be with you, and uphold you, every step of the way. Because He loves you, especially much.
Let's also not forget that God chastises those He loves. If we serve Him faithfully, there will be fire, not necessarily because we have sinned, but because we have been faithful, and He is calling us higher, and refining us. No discipline is pleasant for the moment, but our light afflictions (Paul's words, not mine ... they don't seem "light" while you go through them, I know that all too well) refine us according to His eternal will so we can shine even more than before. The apostles entered into their callings willingly, and they knew that there was a price to be paid. They weren't victims, they were conquerers, in those things, and through them, and because of them. As are we. If there is going to be a crown, there has to be a cross first.
Also, we do live on a sin-tainted planet, and things happen accordingly. People die, they get hurt, they get sick. Jobs are lost, relationships go through turmoil, finances get strapped, hard times come, it happens. We will not be excluded from that, even though God will be with us through these things. We live on a planet with billions of other people, there is no hiding from the effects of the behavior of others (as well as our own), no matter how much we'd like to.
Besides, how do you get true compassion if you never taste the touch of hard times that others go through? Jesus tasted it, all of it. And now He can have compassion on us, and save us through the very depths of our human experience, because He knows what it's like. And we can be there for others, because we've tasted what they're going through, and we know what it's like, and can be of true help.
And, how can He teach our hands to war, if we're not placed in battle? We have an enemy, and we are on his list. We do not struggle against flesh and blood, but spiritual strongholds that puff themselves up against the knowledge of God. It's on-the-job training, so do not lose heart, but stand firm.
If you're going through something, Jesus has already been there, and He understands. So trust in Him to be with you, and uphold you, every step of the way. Because He loves you, especially much.
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