Thanks for sharing this with, I needed to read it today.
Virgie and Hoshi
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:33 PM
Subject: Through The Ringer


>I wrote this 18 years ago.
>
> THROUGH THE RINGER
>
>
>                               By
>
>                          Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>     Although I was born in 1952, I can still remember watching
> Mom squeezing newly washed clothes through the hand cranked
> ringer.   They pealed from the rollers flattened, squashed,
> almost unrecognizable, and then hung out to dry.  Not much ever
> survived the ringer except the clothes.  Hence the cliche:
> "Through the ringer."
>
>     Nearly everyone has faced impossible situations and
> confessed:  "I've really been through the ringer."  We mean, of
> course, we have been pressed, squeezed, pounded, flattened,
> hammered, mashed, pressed, steam rolled, dumped on, squashed,
> buried, or pulverized by something which has demanded a high price
> to endure.  Sometimes, if negotiated successfully, we may brag of
> our accomplishments, but generally we weep.   Often we fumble for
> an explanation to save face, dodge questions, or to soothe
> emotions.  When all else fails, we plug in the old standby:
>
>     And we know that all things work together for good to
>     them that love God, to them who are the called according
>     to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).
>
>     This is perhaps the most misunderstood, certainly the most
> misinterpreted, verse in all the Bible.  Anything and everything
> can be easily, and conveniently dumped into the black hole of
> Romans 8:28 and never seen or heard from again.  Since God has
> failed to answer prayer, change circumstances, or honor His Word,
> the quoting of it saves face.  Such failure can be devastating,
> even destructive,  especially to the Christian who claims to be
> walking in the Spirit.  We, of all people, must have answers
> because we are led of the Holy Spirit.  What if there simply isn't
> any answer?
>
>     I know a pastor who had recently taken over a self supporting
> church that had a number of past problems.  For months the pastor,
> along with the remaining leadership, had to deal with a
> multiplicity of difficulties.  People began to leave because of
> both the new and old pastors.  Relocation became necessary because
> the membership was dwindling and the landlord wanted to raise the
> rent.  Personal problems began to make themselves known in
> people's own lives.  A strong stand was taken on the authority of
> God's eternal Word which, of course, divided some and drew others.
> Demonic forces were released against the church through a member
> involved in the occult and rebellion began to be manifested in
> segments of the Body.   Finally, the pastor decided to terminate
> his ministry and release the church.
>
>     For their final Sunday together, the pastor spoke from Romans
> 8:28 and explained how "all things work together for good."  This
> promise, he said, is not for just any Christian but rather for
> those walking in the Spirit through prayer, according to the two
> prier verses, (Romans 8:26-27).  Additionally, "and we know that
> all things work together" targets those Christians faithful in
> harmonizing their prayers with that of the Holy Spirit as he
> "makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
> If we are careful to examine Romans 8 in context, we discover that
> "There is now therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ
> Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.  Thus,
> those walking in the Spirit and taking up partnership with the
> intercessory prayers of the Holy Spirit, will not experience
> condemnation but will "know," see with spiritual vision, that
> "all things" can, and will be, worked together by God for their
> benefit.  This includes, of course, things good or bad, right or
> wrong, holy or unholy.  This pastor was not suggesting, however,
> that God authors the bad - see James 1:12-17 - but will instead
> incorporate "all things" for the benefit of His own people.  In
> another words, what the Devil means for evil, God will mean for
> good.  Do not be concerned with how flat, how pulverized, how
> squeezed you may be.  Wait upon the Lord through the intercessory
> ministry of the Holy Spirit in prayer, and as you are hung out to
> dry, remember the promise of Romans 8:28.
>
>     This particular pastor is totally blind with three children,
> all who see normally, and has been married for seventeen years.
> His wife is also totally blind.  He now has no personal income,
> feels a sense of defeat and rejection, deep concern for his
> family, an awareness of loss and personal failure, and even
> wonders if he will ever be used by the Lord again.  Yet he knows
> that Romans 8:28 is applicable to those who walk by faith and are
> submitted to the Heavenly Father who promises to work all things
> together for their benefit.  How do I know he, this pastor,
> believes this?  I am that pastor.
>
>     Although my wife and I have wept buckets of tears and
> struggled with turbulent emotions, we "know," see with
> supernatural vision, that God has a plan.  The pain is real, the
> guilt is real, and the fear is real and so is God.  If you are
> suffering as we are at this very moment, be refreshed by taking up
> partnership with the Holy Spirit in prayer.  Cry the tears of
> failure, experience the crushing devastation of the unknown,
> endure the bone splintering pain of rejection, but believe God.
> He will never leave or forsake you.  If you will thus submit to
> the promise, and resultant power, of Romans 8:28, the Devil will
> confess, as you are put through the ringer, "He looks more like
> Jesus now than before!"
>
>
> It Sounds Like God To Me.
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>