Reigning Fire: Discovering Holy Spirit Grace and Hope in Your Fiery Trials – Excerpt

By Holly Chappell –

12 Good Purposes for Going Through Your Pain

Where are you right now in your life? Are you in the beginning of a problem, in the middle of a problem, or coming out of a problem? My pastor says that we are always in one of these stages, and I agree. Pain and suffering are just part of our lives. Even in our trials, God wants to turn our old lives into new kingdom lives. In fact, He is igniting the kingdom life within you, changing you from the inside out with the fire of the Holy Spirit. He’s making your inside house, your spirit where He dwells, clean and shiny. He is creating a heart transformation. This is going to require some work; in fact it will take a lot of work on your part! We constantly search for meaning in our sufferings. And yet, we learn. Paul pleaded with Jesus three times to heal him of the thorn in his flesh. Paul says to Jesus: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 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” (2 Cor. 12:9, 10).

 I do not know what suffering you are going through today. We all will experience catastrophic loss at some point in our lives. I am finding that I need to deal with the day-to-day suffering the most, because it is happening daily! Are you like Job, who said, “My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart’s desires are broken” (Job 17:11, NLT)? Our Almighty God knows and understands what you are going through. He is the God who sees you, the One who loves you no matter what. “For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation” (Ps. 149:4 NKJV).

It is important from the onset of this book to know that God did not create suffering or pain. However, He will help you through your difficult trial. We all are suffering or will suffer at various points in our lives. One thing I know for certain is we will never be the same after our trial. Your suffering can be something great if you are able to be willing to trust, cooperate, and participate with God through the Holy Spirit. He will move you to change as you abide in Him. Suffering teaches me more about God and His faithful love. God wants to do something beautiful in your life, even in your fiery trials (Rom. 8:28, 29). He wants to be with you, love your hurting soul, and hold you close as you go through these devastating times. Let Him help you to have faith, courage, and patience, knowing He will be with you. He will be there for you when you are asking why, why me, or why now?

I know at times of betrayal, relationship issues, divorce, disappointments, death, accidents, job loss, and during our present-day economy, people are walking the tightrope of life, just trying to stay balanced. Some of us are right on the edge. The boundary of our sufferings points us to the cross. We have a decision to make: do we surrender or go our own way? The cross and Jesus’ suffering there can remind us to go the distance with Him. We are learning to make a lasting impact–not only on ourselves, but also on others as they watch us walk through the flames. There will be an end to our fiery trials. Will we choose to praise and worship Him, even though we see problems near and far? Someday, as we look out onto heaven’s starlit horizon, we will scarcely remember our fiery trials. Rather, our focus will be the loving and kind face of God, and we will be content to bask in His weight of glory.

I have included a bible study with each chapter.

Chapter 1

God’s Heart Fired Love for You

Good purpose #1: God has a specific purpose in the fire. Fire can yield positive results, especially when I am lacking the benefit He wants to see made real in my life!

I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama–compared to him I’m a mere stagehand–will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house–make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.

–Matthew 3:11, 12 MSG

You see, as Matthew 3:12 states, “He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God.” Everything false, including your inferiority complex, your false identity of yourself, your reliance on performance rather than surrender, your numbing addictions, and even the rubbish permeating your thought process, is going to be burned. How does the Holy Spirit do this? It begins with a head and heart fired in the kiln of holy transformation. At times, this holy transformation feels like suffering and creates anxiety. This option for change begins with hearing the reality of what He knows and says about you. All of the sudden, you hear the truth and become aware that something has been wrong. A part of you wants to stay the same, but the other part knows the truth and wants to live the better way He is offering you. Your suffering is heating up. Why is there fire in your situation?

For over thirty years, Holly LaChappell has enjoyed working with adults and children as a Teacher, Business owner, Christian Lay Counselor, Speaker, Author, Fitness Instructor and Bible Study leader. She has a passion for teaching people about Jesus’ transformational heart healing love. She just ran her first half marathon at the young age of fifty!

http://www.heartforthecross.com/.