After a church service in which the minister had preached about spiritual gifts, he was greeted at the door by a woman who said, “Pastor, I believe I have the gift of criticism.”

He responded, “Do you remember the person in Jesus’ parable who had the one talent? Do you recall what he did with it?”

“Yes,” replied the woman, “he went out and buried it” (Matthew 25:18)

With a smile, the pastor suggested, “Go, and do likewise!”

If criticism is not given lovingly and with an honest desire to help, it can be cruel and destructive. The words of Lev. 19:17 “— rebuke thy neighbor”,— are preceded by warnings against spreading slander and nursing hatred.

You can determine when you should criticize and when you shouldn’t by asking yourself three questions:

Am I motivated by a desire to help the other person?

Am I planning to face him honestly, but gently?

Am I doing this for the Lord, or because I enjoy being critical?
If your goal is to help, if your motives are loving, and if your desire is to please God, then go ahead and criticize. If you can’t pass these tests, keep quiet.—Richard De Haan

We glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience, and experience, hope – Romans 5:3-4           

When we are suffering physically or passing through a time of great trial, it doesn’t seem possible that any good could ever come out of it. Yet Paul says we glory in tribulations; and the reason we do is that, though at the time we cannot see it, something good is going to come out of the trial. The suffering itself is not good but the patience, the experience, the hope that spring from it is very good.

When we face trials that are outside of our control, we are made to learn the lesson of patience. Whether we want to or not, we have to wait. We don’t get what we want immediately. But so often, when the trial is finally lifted, we are able to see how God has used even this difficulty to shape our lives, and the lives of others perhaps, in ways that we could never have imagined. Thus, trials give us experience of God’s wisdom and faithfulness.

In the time of suffering we come to place great value on the promises of God. We may know the promises by memory, but they are never so full of meaning as when we claim them in our darkest hours and deepest struggles. The patience and experience we have gained from past deliverances gives us hope to trust in the Lord and in His promises.

Good has come from our trials because we now have a greater sense our weakness and God’s strength. We have been drawn to a closer walk with Him, and His promises are not just words but a reality in our life. So with Paul we “glory in tribulations.”–From “A Good Thing”

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.–Romans 8:28

Since we cannot avoid afflictions, how we view them is crucial. If we view them properly we will see them as appointments not accidents. Although Satan may play a role we should not view every difficulty as an attack by the devil. It is best to think of them as the appointments of God. In other words, God either causes or allows everything. Nothing “just happens”. In some way or another God is always involved in the things that happen in life. And, because He is involved we always have hope. Although Satan means them for bad, God uses them for good. So instead of cursing our trials we should use them as an occasion to draw closer to God, experience His grace operating in our lives, and look for some good to come out of them.

Yeah I know– many things in life are unfair and terribly difficult and painful, but they don’t have to discourage, defeat, and destroy us. Nothing happens that does not first pass through the permissive will of God. Knowing that should be a comfort and a challenge to us. It’s easy to quote Romans 8:28 to someone else going through trials, but not so easy to apply it to our situation. Yet it is true in both instances. That which is a mystery to us is actually a ministry from God. He is working for us, not against us!

Every affliction that comes our way is an appointment from God and an opportunity for us to show others what God can do. And that’s just one of the ways in which God can bring good out of bad. God has a purpose, a good purpose, in all that He does. Whether we see the end result or not isn’t what’s important. It is the working out of His will that matters most. Knowing that God brings some good to us and/or others through our trials should change the way we view them. And when we have the proper perspective we have peace.