Eastern Lightning | How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work（part2)
In every age of God’s work amongst man, God bestows on people some words and tells them some truths, and these truths are the way people should hold to, and are that which people should practice and hold to as they live, and throughout the course of their lives; this is God’s aim in telling these truths to man. These words come from God and people should hold to them; when people hold to them they then gain life. If people do not hold to them and do not practice them, and they do not have these words of God in their lives, then they are not practicing the truth; when people do not practice the truth they are then not capable of satisfying God; when people are not capable of satisfying God they are then not able to be praised by God, and thus they will have no end. So how does God determine people’s ends within His work? What method does He employ to determine people’s ends? If I don’t talk about this then you are perhaps unclear about it. But once I talk about this process you may gain some clarity, for many people have already experienced this matter before. Over the course of God’s work, from when He began His work up until the present day, to each and every person—it could be said to each and every person who follows Him—He gives trials of varying degrees. Some people undergo trials whereby their families abandon them, some undergo trials of environments, some undergo trials whereby they face choices, and some face trials to do with their status or wealth. In short, all manner of trials befall each and every person. So why does God want to do this? Why does He want to treat each and every person this way? What is the outcome God wants to see? It is as I said just now, God looks to see whether or not someone is a person who fears God and shuns evil. This means that when God gives you a trial, when He causes you to encounter some environment, He then tests you to see whether or not you are fearing God and whether or not you are shunning evil. Suppose something happened to someone and this event caused them to come into contact with offerings. Tell Me, is this event arranged by God? There is no need to query this; everything you encounter is all God’s arrangements. When this event happens to you, what do you choose? God is watching how you choose, how you practice, and what you think in your heart, and this is the outcome God wants to see and that He is most concerned with. But when events happen to people, they frequently don’t think this way; most people don’t think this way. As soon as something happens to them, they say, “This has happened to me and no matter what, it is God’s offering and I must not touch it.” They think in such a simple way. They don’t go to touch God’s offerings, nor do they think about it too deeply; they just think about it in this simple way and then they’re done with it. Is the outcome of this trial that they stand firm, or that they don’t stand firm? Tell Me. (If someone has a God-fearing heart, then when something happens to them whereby they come into contact with God’s offerings, they will think it is something in which they can easily offend God’s disposition, so they will certainly err on the side of caution.) You are kind of on the right track, but you’re not quite there. How to explain this? Following the way of God is not outwardly keeping some rule, but rather it is when this event happens to you, you first of all see it as an environment orchestrated by God, a responsibility given to you by God, or something God has entrusted to you and, when it happens to you, you even see it as God’s trial, and these thoughts come clearly to you. When this thing happens to you, there must be a standard in your heart and you must think that this event has come from God, and you must think how you should handle it to not aggravate God and to not offend His disposition. We spoke just now about the matter concerning offerings. It is your duty to take good care of these offerings and it is your responsibility; you are duty-bound to this responsibility, but is there any temptation when this matter befalls you? (Yes.) Where does this temptation come from? This temptation comes from Satan, and it also comes from man’s corrupt disposition, from man’s evil, corrupt disposition. But as far as God is concerned, what does it mean to you when this matter befalls you? God wants to do this thing, and when it befalls you it becomes a trial for you—it is a trial which has befallen you. Some people ask, “This is such a tiny matter. Is it necessary to make a mountain out of a molehill?” Yes, it is necessary. Because if we want to follow the way of God, then we cannot see any tiny, minor matter as being a small matter that can be ignored or paid no heed. But rather regardless of whether a matter is big or small, regardless of whether we see it as something we need to take heed of or not, so long as it is something that happens to us we cannot let it slide, and we must see it as God testing us. So what kind of attitude is this? This attitude verifies a fact, and having this attitude proves that your heart fears God and wishes to shun evil. When you have this desire to satisfy God, then your practice will not be far from the standard of fearing God and shunning evil. Is this not the case?
