Freedom House Church and Healing Centre

Counted Worthy

Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering…. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.(2Thessalonians 1:4-5, 11)

Hello Saints,

Have you ever wondered why life is so hard? Does it ever get easier? It has been my experience that life is filled with challenges. Some of them last a short time, and then we find ourselves quickly on the other side of the storm, forgetting about it as time goes on. Other trials take a long time, wear us down, and we wonder if we will ever have the victory? Every difficulty affects us somehow, some way. The old expression, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is true. It is through the trials that we are shaped and moulded, taught and equipped, strengthened for the remainder of the complicated journey called life.

Some people think that becoming a Christian, following Jesus, putting our faith in Christ, will automatically get rid of all the problems. Some believe the “abundant life” Jesus promised means never having any difficulties. Jesus will somehow magically make every problem go away. Friend, this is simply not biblical! When I read my Bible, and from my own experience, it is precisely when a person chooses to follow Jesus that the biggest problems one will encounter begin. I believe that God heals, delivers, and sets free – but this is not always an instantaneous, immediate occurrence, or reality. Sometimes the healing never comes; the marriage is never restored; the child is never saved before the death of the praying parent; the finances are never materialized. God doesn’t promise to take away the challenges in life, just to be there with you when you go through them! He also promises to give us the grace to persevere through the trial (2Cor. 12:9). But God has another purpose for the trials we face once we become a Christian.

From today’s verses “the persecutions and trials you are enduring” produce “perseverance and faith”. This is a truth we have seen before (James 1:2-4). Verse 5 has a very interesting addition to add to our understanding of why trials come to the Christian. God is justified in using tribulations to bring out the character of the believer – a character exemplified in a persevering, growing faith. In God’s judgment, it is right for Him to use the difficulties of life, especially the Christian life to prove the growth, maturity, and even the perfecting of His saints. These trials are allowed to demonstrate the genuineness of our faith (1Peter 1:7). But why do God’s children need to suffer so much? So that we are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. This passage is not saying that we are earning the right to inherit the kingdom of God, based on our merit of persevering faith. It is not us, but God who is working in us to produce perseverance and faith. Listen to Paul’s words to the Philippians:For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” (Phil. 2:13). God works in us to get us to the finish line – to inherit the Kingdom of God. He is the one who makes us worthy of the Kingdom. He will do it because His purposes never fail! We are worthy because He makes us worthy! We will inherit the Kingdom, because He does the work in us to qualify us to inheriting the Kingdom! Let’s put it this way: what Paul is saying is that the way we respond to the difficulties of the Christian life is evidence, proof, confirmation, that God is inside us perfecting us, making us fit and ready for the Kingdom of God-our inheritance (James 2:5; Matt. 5:10).

Just stop and think about the way you used to respond to the problems in life when you were without Christ. You were of the world, and like the world you got angry, frustrated, lashed out at people, sought revenge, turned to substances to deal with your frustrations, etc. Your response to problems should be much different now that you are in Christ – you pray, you trust God, you exercise your faith to believe and persevere through the trials, praising God, confessing the Word, believing in hope, patience, and maintaining a supernatural joy amid the difficulties. This new response proves Jesus is in you – that you are a new creation – and demonstrates that God is right in choosing you to inherit the kingdom. God has declared you worthy, and the victory over the trials proves you are worthy of the kingdom. But in reality, it just proves that God was right to declare you worthy, even before the trials began. So rejoice that God has counted you worthy to receive the Kingdom!

And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you the kind of children He wants to have—will make you as good as you wish you could be!—rewarding your faith with His power.  Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your greatest glory will be that you belong to Him. The tender mercy of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you. (2Thess. 1:11-12 The Living Bible)

Have a blessed week, knowing God has declared you worthy of the Kingdom!

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