THIS REALLY MINISTERED TO ME THIS MORNING, AS THE LORD UNFOLDED IT TO ME IN THE MINISTRY TO A FRIEND AND HIS WIFE.

  BEING AQUATINTED WITH PAIN AND SUFFERING IN DIFFERENT FORMS, AND SUFFERING DOES COME IN DIFFERENT FORMS. IT CAN BE IN BODY, IN MIND, IN SPIRIT & SOUL. (MIND WILL & EMOTIONS)... MANY PEOPLE SUFFER TREMENDOUSLY IN THEIR THOUGHT LIFE. THEY SUFFER NEEDLESSLY IN THEIR EMOTIONS.

PENNED UP BY HATE ANGER AND BITTERNESS. WOUNDS THAT ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO HEAL. SO, FOR YEARS THEY FESTER, AND THEY BRING PAIN TO THE SOUL, AND TO THOSE AROUND IT AS WELL.

WE ALL GO THROUGH DIFFERENT KINDS OF PAIN/S AND SUFFERINGS. SOMETIMES, AND UNFORTUNATELY, THOSE WITH SUFFERINGS ARE TO CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR OWN PAIN, TO HAVE THE HEART TO MINISTER THE GRACE OF GOD TO THE ONES AROUND THEM WHO ARE IN NEED OF LOVE AND MERCY AND HEALING. IF FACT, THEY REALLY CAN NOT, BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES ARE NOT ALLOWING GOD'S GRACE INTO THEIR OWN LIVES TO STRENGTHEN THEM, AND BRING HEALING AND DELIVERANCE. THIS TO, SHOWS THE DISTANCE THAT STILLS REMAINS BETWEEN US TRULY KNOWING CHRIST, AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS.

SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING TO US WE DO NOT LIKE, AND IMMEDIATELY WE BALK, WE DRAW BACK, 'PUT UP A SHIELD', ( a shield that flesh has created), AND BURY OURSELVES IN SELF PITY AND SORROW.

1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Pe 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary , you have been distressed by various trials,

1Pe 1:7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1Pe 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

1Pe 1:9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

THIS IS THE TESTIMONY OF FAITH!

IN OTHER WORDS, "THOUGH YOU DO NOT SEE HIM NOW, (IN YOUR TRIAL, IN YOUR FIERY TEST, IN YOUR HEARTACHE, PAIN, OR SUFFERING. THIS YOU CAN REST ASSURED OF.....

"HE IS THERE, HE CARES," AND WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH IF YOU BUT "BELIEVE" HIS WORD, THAT HE IS THE WORD! THAT HE WILL, IF YOU PLACE YOUR LIFE IN HIS HANDS BY FAITH, HE WILL MAKE A WAY WHERE THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY, HE WILL CHANGE YOU INTO THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF CHRIST, AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH, A HEART THAT CAN REMAIN ON THE POTTERS WHEEL, AND ALLOW HIM TO FORM AND MOLD YOU INTO HIS OWN DESIGN, AND CAUSE YOU TO BE A VESSEL OF HONOR IN THE SERVICE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. SERVING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, BEARING GOOD FRUIT!

In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. "The clouds are the dust of His feet" ( Nahum 1:3 ). They are a sign that God is there. What a revelation it is to know that sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are actually the clouds that come along with God! God cannot come near us without clouds—He does not come in clear-shining brightness.

It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child—a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been?

There is a connection between the strange providential circumstances allowed by God and what we know of Him, and we have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Until we can come face to face with the deepest, darkest fact of life without damaging our view of God’s character, we do not yet know Him.

". . . they were fearful as they entered the cloud" (Luke 9:34). Is there anyone except Jesus in your cloud? If so, it will only get darker until you get to the place where there is "no one anymore, but only Jesus . . ." ( Mark 9:8 ; also see Mark 2-7 ).