Psalm 139

“There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far it has come with great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment”.  Allen Redpath

This paragraph is taken from the book Eldership and the Mission of God. By JR Briggs and Bob Hyatt “It is my observation that as people grow older they become sweeter, wiser, more like Jesus versions of themselves or they become more cantankerous and bitter versions of themselves. This happens because life is formation. All that we do and experience shapes us in one direction or another, depending on how we respond to what happens to us in the experiences of everyday life, both extraordinary and mundane.

We have all seen how some people emerge from trials having grown and become more Christlike while others having become dejected, disheartened and ready to quit. The difference seems to be whether we see God  in the midst of our life struggles as either present or absent, uninvolved or allowing. Also significant are the questions we ask about our struggles. Some ask, “Why is this happening to me?  Others ask “God what can you form in me through this?”
Both views of God form us, as will both kinds of questions, but they form us in different directions.”

What direction do your life struggles form in you?
Psalms 139:1-5
    [1] O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
    [2] You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from afar.
    [3] You search out my path and my lying down
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
    [4] Even before a word is on my tongue,
        behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
    [5] You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
We can be confident and know that no trial comes to us without purpose. we can confidently pray with the psalmist;

Psalm 139:23-24
    [23] Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
    [24] And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!