Rich Beyond Measure: The Spiritually Wealthy Christian

By Patricia Stuart

"Having a right perspective on trials is necessary in order to endure them. The incredible wealth you'll acquire will make you rich beyond measure! This is an intangible wealth that has eternal value!"
-Patricia Stuart

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483563879

Book preview

Stuart

Chapter One

A Right Perspective

When I became a Christian, I expected to see good things happen in my life. I expected that the things that were not right, prior to salvation, would now become right. I wanted to have that joy the preacher spoke about and the blessed life I had heard about, but instead I was experiencing lots of problems. Not to mention, I experienced afflictions and trials that brought more pain.

What I expected was exactly what God intended on giving me! He had secured for me a life full of blessing with joy unspeakable! But let me first say that it was a process. This process took place over time. From the minute I accepted the Lord as my personal Savior, God had a specific plan for my life, and in order for my life to thrive and flourish, trials would have to enter the picture.

Trials are necessary and useful. Enduring trials have taught me many things about God. Trials provided me with the opportunity to see first hand the kind of power God possessed.

When I was a new convert, the trials I experienced seemed difficult and frustrating. I also noticed that it didn’t take long for my prayers to be answered. God was trying to develop my faith in Him. He also knew how much I could bear while being young in the faith.

As time went on, the burdens I had became greater in proportion and magnitude. My prayers were not answered as quickly as before. I felt the weight of each trial. I could remember doubting God as well. I questioned my faith and God. It almost felt as if something was wrong because of the type of trials I had. I couldn’t believe God was allowing me to go through things that seemingly made no sense.

My prayer life was being challenged greatly. I was use to having my morning devotions with prayer and that was it. After all, I had children to tend to and a household to keep up with during the day. At dinner time, my husband ran the family devotions and we prayed together as a family. Somehow, I began to feel the need to converse with God more each day. The type of trials that I was facing certainly forced that upon me.

There were times when I was overwhelmed because I just couldn’t understand what was going on. Hadn’t I surrendered to the Lord? Didn’t I give Him what He wanted?

There were financial trials, afflictions of various sorts, pressures without and pressures within. As a Christian wife and mother, I was ridiculed by others for my decision to remain in the home and raise my children. I endured criticism and ostracizing; I was amazed that they had come from my fellow believers. Was I to understand that a loving God was subjecting me to that? Did I deserve these things? What did I do to bring these situations on myself? Those were the questions I asked God over and over again. He didn’t answer me for a long time.

One day, a break through came. We were short of funds and the deadline for paying our car insurance was two days away. My husband wasn’t expecting a paycheck for another week or so. During family devotions, that evening, my husband led us in prayer. We would always express what we needed during our family prayer time. We wanted our children to know that God was the one we were depending on for everything. That evening, my husband went to the mailbox. There was a letter from the IRS stating that we were over taxed and enclosed was a refund. The amount was exactly what we needed to pay our car insurance. I will never forget what I felt in that moment. My faith began to grow