What God is doing and allowing in life in the present tense prepares the believer for the future with Him. With this perspective on the difficult circumstances of this life believers can rest assured that it is a spiritually prosperous and beneficial time as faith is refined. The refining process exposes the present quality of faith and then serves to improve it. Knowing suffering and trials are ultimately controlled by God and being used for His good purposes in the lives of His children, the believer can dwell on the good they will accomplish and not be consumed with the circumstances themselves. During the hard times the believer continues doing what they did during the good times – to trust and obey God. It is also strengthening and encouraging to remember what God has done in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the love of God shown in providing forgiveness. Loving God in response is demonstrated by obedience to His perfect will. The present struggles as difficult as they are, are temporary and the joy to come eternal to such an extent that even when the suffering is yet ongoing the rejoicing can be likewise in anticipating of the glory to come.
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In the fall of 1969, Gil began a full-time teaching ministry as Senior Pastor of Indian Hills Community Church. He also earned his Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Theology. The focus of Pastor Rugh’s ministry is systematic, verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible. As a...
