What happens when we stuff our emotional pain? Let me take you to two accounts. Jacob said some startling words. He grieved greatly when he made the assumption that Joseph had been killed. His sons did not correct him. 

In Genesis 42:38 he was adamant regarding his last son Benjamin. It says, “…My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity shall befall him along the  way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

I have read that a cancer diagnosis often follows 10 years after a traumatic event. I have watched this play out in a few folks that I know. When anyone tells me that they were diagnosed with cancer, I ask them what happened in their life 10 years ago?

There is another account for us to look at. Hannah was barren. She was one of Elkanah’s two wives. 1 Samuel 1:6 says, “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.”

There was nothing Hannah could do to reverse her traumatic day by day life. The Lord was the only one who could remedy her barrenness. In their society, being childless was considered being cursed by God.

Though Hannah was greatly loved by her husband, her emotional pain ruled her thoughts. Verse 8 says that her heart was grieved. She wept and did not eat. She languished. In verse 15 she told Eli what her heart felt like.

It says, “…I am a woman of sorrowful spirit…” Verse 16 says, “…for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” Proverbs 15:13 says, “…by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Scientists and researchers look for answers that God has freely given in His word. They think that they discover great information. If they would only believe, they could  have read it in His word. When we don’t process our emotional pain God’s way, it lies buried to bring destruction to His ordered way for our bodies to thrive.

Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord. He stepped into her situation, and gave her the desire of her heart. Israel prospered under the words of her prophet son Samuel. What is the Lord waiting to give you when you let go of your emotional pain?

Peter wrote to folks who were in a trial. In 1 Peter 1:6 he wrote of their joy in being kept by the power of God. It says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.”

Verse 7 are very familiar words that describe the inside of our crucible. It says, “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though  it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

In 1 Peter 4:2 Peter wrote words that we can aptly identify with. It says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.”

Verse 3 says to rejoice. James wrote something similar in James 1:2. The J. B. Philips says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!”

Trials take on a new meaning when we consider them as friends. How do you greet your friends when they are standing at your door unexpectedly? We receive them with joy and gladness.

I can tell you that when I fell into the six foot ravine (1977) ‘friends’ was not in my radar. However, once I had lived with it for a while, it did become my cherished friend. Through it, the Lord wooed me to Himself in a way that I had never experienced Him before.

We can think of our trial as a hidden treasure. We never knew it was there. Finding it now in our possession brings untold riches of grace, mercy, love, kindness, and peace. As we open the lid and look inside, the Holy Spirit will speak words of encouragement for the endurance that we will need.

Hebrews 4:14 says, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Then the writer emphasizes that Jesus knows exactly what we are going through. He already went through it for us.

Verse 16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The Lord is right there with us in our crucible. The words He speaks to us, will become future crucible words for another during their trying times.

2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Though every one’s trial is different, they all have one thing in common. The God of All Comfort is there with us in our crucible trial. He has already prepared the way. He has taken out anything that He knows we would not be able to endure. He has set His special provision within the trial.

His wisdom is available the moment we ask. Proverbs 2:7 says, “He stores up wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.” In Genesis 15:1 He told Abram, “…Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

That brings us to another verse. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

The Lord empowers us to go through our crucible trial with His resurrection power. It is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. Ephesians 1:19 Amplified says, “…what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe…”

We do not go through any trial in our own strength. No, we go through with His mighty power which resides in us. Ephesians 3:16 Amplified says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality).”

I love the words ‘strengthened and reinforced.’ They remind me of rebar in concrete. I often use this faith affirmation when I am in need of strength. “I am right now being strengthened and reinforced in and by and through the mighty power of Your word.”

The words you speak to another from your crucible trial, connect in a way that is totally unique. You will not find them written down anywhere. They are heart words. They are spiritual with no fleshly mixture. They have been distilled, so that they are like an essential oil.

They are concentrated-comfort. They are like fresh oil that seep through cracks of emotional pain to reach every nook and cranny. They soothe, encourage, and strengthen the inner man of the receiver.

What were Jesus’ words to Peter regarding his sifting? Luke 22:30 says, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

When I was in high school, my cousin sent me two verses. I want to share them with you. Psalm 20 was written by David. Verse 4-5 says, “May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.”

David also wrote Psalm 21. Verse 2 says, “You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips.” David had a desire to build a house for the Lord. He carried that desire in his heart. However it was fulfilled through his son Solomon.

When king Solomon dedicated the temple, he reiterated David’s desire. 1 Kings 8:18 says, “But the Lord said to my father David, Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.”

David was not allowed to build the temple because he was a man of war. The Lord said that he had shed much blood. He assured David that He would fulfill David’s desire through his son. How did David respond?

1 Chronicles 29:3 says, “Moreover, because  I have set  my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver.”

What are your affections set on? David gave us a right perspective in Psalm 27:4. It says, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the  house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,  and to inquire in His temple.”

The Lord uses our trials to expose the hidden dross in our faith. He refines our faith, removing any alloy, so that we reflect His character. He uses the crucible to burn up our affections composed of wood, hay, and straw. 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego went through a crucible that was heated seven times hotter than usual. Daniel 3: 27 says when they were removed from the crucible, “…whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.”

Here is one of my crucible anchor verses. Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

The Lord was right in the crucible with the three Hebrew men, as He is with each of us. What a comfort. We never had to fear the crucible. It is one of God’s instruments that He uses to fulfill His purpose in our lives.

The children of Israel were given specific instruction to not mingle with the enemy. The warning came because God knew that they would be entrapped. Their leader made a clear statement. 

Joshua 24:14-15 says, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

We know from verse 14 that they followed their father’s wrong example. They left God’s path to follow their own pursuits. Peer pressure is not just for the young. It affects every one of us when we fear what others will think. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare…”

Compromise is just one circle off the path of righteousness that the Lord has set us on at salvation. Our progressive sanctification journey trains our character. Romans 5:3-4 says that the Lord uses our trials.

The Lord never sets a temptation before us. We either flee or embrace satan’s design to entrap us. We are to be in the world, but not a partaker of its system. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “…For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”

Verse 17-18 says, “…Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

We are called with a holy calling to be influencers through His light that shines through and out of us. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from every form of evil.” Abstain means to resist from doing something. If we look like the world, then how can we be the change agents to those who know us? Our goal is that they might know Him through our character of Christlikeness.

Keith Green wrote a book and composed an album, “No Compromise.” I think back to Joseph. The setting was perfect. No one was around. Yet when he faced it, he fled to avoid any compromise.

Genesis 39:11-12 says that none of the men were in the house, “That she caught him by his garment…But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.” It was a set up. She had tried many times and Joseph would not yield to the temptations.

We know that satan looks for opportunities to entrap us. In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul told Timothy, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Who do you spend time with? Who influences your life? Who is your example, and who do you follow? In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Do you have Christ imitators in your life?

I want you to take a piece of paper and put some small circles on like this: oooo       o. The last o is your mark. After the fourth circle, place the next circle just slightly higher than the one before it. If we followed the line of that circle to the end, we would miss the mark, which is a definition of sin.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The raised circle leads us off the straight path. Our character is tested and revealed when the circumstances to compromise are presented. No one is around. No one will know. 

Quench is an interesting word. It means to suppress, thwart, and extinguish. It describes how the enemy seeks to destroy our faith. The opposite of suppress is to express. The opposite of thwart is to succeed in victory. The opposite of extinguishing is to ignite.

We are warned in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 4:30 says to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Verse 31 listed the enemy’s tactics. He works through people that are under his influence through the lies they have believed.

It says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.” Verse 32 helps us to come in the opposite spirit. It says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another; even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Paul’s further instructions are in Colossians 3:12-13. It says, “Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

The underpinnings of our faith is forgiveness. As we are forgiven, we are to forgive in the same manner. Matthew 18:35 says that unless we forgive from our heart, God the Father will send tormentors. 

Paul had a thorn in the flesh. It was tormenting him. We do not know what the thorn was, but 2 Corinthians 12:7 says it was given to him, “…a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

Could the Lord be using folks in your life that you are at cross purposes with? What He allows always has His purpose ingrained in the fabric of the trial. It is tightly woven so that nothing can thwart it.

Proverbs 27:17 Amplified says, “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (to show rage or worthy purpose).” We are to be iron sharpeners not friction igniters.

Proverbs 15:1-2 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” We are to exemplify the Lord’s character at all times. He uses adversity to reveal the hidden lies that undermine our faith.

How does unbelief get in? I felt this question pop into my mind when I read Matthew 17:20. Jesus was speaking to His disciples. They wanted to know why they couldn’t cast out the man’s epileptic son’s demon.

It says, “…Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

The issue was not the size of their faith. It never is with us either. Unbelief comes in when we allow a fiery dart lie to penetrate our mind. It also comes in when we waver in what God’s words instructs us to do.

James 1:8 says that those who waver are double-minded and therefore unstable. Their faith borders are not secured. Faith is a resolute, unshakeable, and steadfastly rooted truth that is hidden in our heart. It is surrounded with thankfulness. 

In Colossians 2:5 Paul commended the church, “…rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” He went on in verse 6-7 to say, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” 

1 Corinthians 10:5 says to take every thought captive. That does not mean that we take every thought apart to see if it has a lie in it. It means that we hide God’s truth in our heart. It is an inward truth that will rise like a sentinel to thwart any lie from entering in the first place.

Those that we dialogue with became our own. They seeded into our hearts unknowingly. That is the stealth activity of our enemy. It is essential to remember that not every thought is of our own origin. As each lie is hidden, it is gathered into a stronghold which fights against us from the inside. 

The fiery darts are outside. Ephesians 6:16 was written so we could stop it from coming in. It says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” More on this tomorrow.

Even though I passed these verses days ago in my reading, the Holy Spirit kept taking me back to them. God’s word is a seed. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:19, Jesus gave great insight for us. It says, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.”

Have you ever heard a message and thought it was really good? Then you promptly forgot it. We heard it, but did not absorb it, so that we could apply it to our own life. Here is another part of hearing and understanding. Matthew 15:8 says, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”

We hear with our ears, but we absorb with our heart. Think now of the disciples. Jesus had just fed the 5,000. Then He told them to get into the boat. Matthew 14:24 says, “But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.”

Picture yourself in a boat being tossed by the waves because of a strong wind. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water. He was walking with no regard for the waves and the wind. They cried out in fear and He calmed them with His words.

In verse 28 Peter asked the Lord to command him to, “…come to You on the water.” Remember that nothing had changed as far as the waves and the wind. When Peter heard the Lord (verse 29) say, “…Come…” Peter climbed down out of the boat and walked on the water. Is that amazing or what!

Verse 30 says, “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord save me!” Wait. What happened? The waves and the wind were still there when he started walking to Jesus.

Here is what Jesus said to Peter, “…O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Has the Lord ever told you to do something and you started out well? Then your mind was assailed with fear, doubt, and unbelief. You were stopped in your tracks. No more forward movement.

When Peter took his eyes off the Lord, he began to fear because all he saw was the boisterous wind. How like us. Don’t look at your circumstances. Remember that satan will do anything he can to get us to veer off the path of righteousness.

Do you remember what Philip said to the Ethiopian eunuch? The Lord sent him quickly to overtake the chariot. He heard what the eunuch was reading. Acts 8:30 says, “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you are reading?”

The eunuch replied in verse 31, “…How can I, unless someone guides me?…” Romans 10:14 says, “How then shall they call on Him to whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

We are all called to evangelize. My take away from my reading is this. Unless I clearly explain the gospel, the enemy will snatch away what I say. The person might hear what I say, meaning that the seed fell on their ears. Yet, did it get absorbed into their heart?

We are the messenger. It is up to the Holy Spirit to bring the conviction of sin for salvation. However, we need to be sure that we are fulfilling our part. Does what I say match my lifestyle? Do I speak life-giving words that are backed by character that exemplifies the Lord?

Peter addressed the Sanhedrin with boldness. He declared to them the way of salvation. Acts 4:12 says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Verse 13 says, “…they realized that they had been with Jesus.” What a commendation!

Paul’s prayer continued in verse 10. Let his words sink into your spirit and rest there. Receive them for yourself. He prayed, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.”

When I don’t know how to pray for someone who is spiritually struggling, I use these verses. It is God’s word that will never return to Him void. He constantly watches over His word to perform it on our behalf.

Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” It is through the discipline of our trials that He works His character into us. Like a Master Potter, He works the water of His word into our heart.

The progression of Romans 5:3-4 bears out this irrefutable truth. The Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character (of this sort) produces (the habit of) joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.”

Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” The Greek word for endurance is hupomone. I love the definition of this word. It is like spiritual rebar.

Note in my Bible: It means constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, holding out, patient endurance. It combines hupo, “under” and mone, “to remain.” It describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

Jesus is our example of endurance. Hebrews 12:2 says, “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame…” Isaiah 52:14 says, “…His visage was marred more than any man.”

Isaiah 53:11 says, “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

How then shall we walk in Christlikeness? Romans 6 is a great chapter to memorize and meditate on. Verse 13 says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”