Trained to Reign
By Edward Miller

We all begin this life as babies. To begin with, we know nothing at all. That is where our training starts. As the life of a man develops there are four definite stages: in his mother's womb, in the development of life, death and resurrection.
In life we must go through difficulties, trials, pain and temptation. It all has a purpose!
Let us look at that wonderful, extremely positive passage in Romans 8:28. It is a verse that maybe we sometimes question. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." Please carry on reading. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Notice the verb tense used in this declaration. As far as God is concerned it has already been done. He works in lives throughout all generations. He is accomplishing His purpose; and His purpose is to form the image of His Son in us and to take us to a state of glorification. That state of glorification is extremely high: His very image. He who is high above every name that is named, higher than all principalities and powers. For this to be possible, our lives will be subjected to severe training.
Secondly it must be noted that we are called. We do not establish the purposes for our lives, God does that. We were predestined before we existed: called and chosen. Our lives have been carefully prepared before we were formed. God is accomplishing His purposes whether we like it or not.

All are Good

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23). We usually think things just happen, but for God's children everything is planned: things we call good and things we call bad. We separate them in two categories. For God there is no such separation. He calls them all good. Let us again remember that verse which asserts that all things work for good to them that love God. Maybe we could separate them into welcome and not so welcome; pleasant and not pleasant. According to God they are all good.
Let us read what Luke 12:32 tells us: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." We have read this verse and thought how wonderful it is: the kingdom! Remember, every prince must be trained before he becomes king.
There are several scriptures that throw light on what has just been said.
2 Timothy 2:12 tells us that "if we suffer, we shall also reign with him."
We clearly see the same thought in Luke 19:11-26. "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow."

Reign?

Yes, the Lord promises us that we shall reign. This is something great and also difficult. Power corrupts. In all power there is corruption. We can see it throughout history. Therefore, how will God preserve His chosen ones from corruption?
First we must establish the following: understanding is not knowledge. It is possible to have much knowledge and not have understanding. Understanding comes by experience and experience upon experience trains us. We are made in such a way that we can not learn by words. We can memorize and have ideas but that will not give us the real concept of what those ideas are. A blind man can not understand what light is through words. A man deaf from birth can not understand what sound is through any idea or thought planted in his brain. Experience. We need experience in order to be able to understand. All those experiences are planned by God. Experiences that will train us and give us understanding. Recently I read about a judge, one of the best in California; an honorable and upright man, greatly respected and sought for. He explained the following: "When two parties come before me, I recognize that there is pain. Someone has been hurt and someone wants recompense for that pain. But the person who caused the pain will also be hurt. I have to be the one who understands that pain. That is why God allowed me to participate in the Vietnam war. I understand pain and I understand that we do not want it. I understand it and I still suffer it." This man was injured during the war and as a result, he still suffers pain in his body. People avidly want to take their case to court and be attended to by this judge.

Understanding Hearts

To reign over people it is necessary to understand their hearts. In Revelation we read that John wept much because there was nobody worthy to open the book and loose the seals thereof either in heaven or in earth or under the earth. One of the elders told him not to weep because the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, had prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals. When the book is opened and the judgments are read, judgment upon judgment, who is worthy to judge? Only the One who has received judgment from the Father. The One who knew exxtreme pain and has an understanding of the hearts.
We judge a lot. We judge mentally. Why? Because we have not been in the place of the one we so lightly judge. We do not have an understanding of the heart. Therefore God will allow us to go through all kinds of trials, building in us an understanding heart. And when the time comes, we shall be able to reign.
A prince who has not been trained will not be a good king.
When God trains someone, as we see in the lives of Joseph, David or Moses, He does so in order to prepare them for that place of authority. We are being prepared for something. If He does not train us we will be hard-hearted. Just stop and listen to criticism in the congregation, whatever the church, you will find hard hearts who judge mentally, not with understanding of the heart.
God will not change us through the magic touch of an angel. His Son, the Captain of our salvation, was made perfect through suffering. Was He not already perfect? He was as God, but as a man He had to live with us, He had to be hungry, He had to be thirsty, He had to be bruised. Thus we have One who knew our weaknesses. We also, therefore, will walk along dark paths which God has chosen for our specific training for specific reasons which will be revealed later.
From the day he had those two strange dreams, young though he was, Joseph knew that he was destined for something. He knew that the powerful God had called and chosen him. He had no idea how God would do it and neither did God tell him. And as God told His servant, so He has told us that we shall reign with Him, that we have been called, chosen, justified and glorified.
We know for sure what awaits us. God wants us to know so that our faith may be firm, sure that all works for good.
Maybe you look at the place where your life develops and you think it is of no importance. Maybe you think it is far from being the school which trains you. Think of this: it does not matter if that place is a carpenter's shop or a high ecclesiastical position. The carpenter with his hammer judges just as much as the preacher. They both have the same capacity when it comes to pain.

Inescapable

Our training is inescapable. We did not ask God for it, neither does He ask us. If He did so, we can imagine what our answer would be. When Joseph received those two dreams, he knew what awaited him one day. We know the story well. When he shared those dreams with his family, they turned against him. Joseph was rejected by his brothers. Is not that what Jesus said: that He came unto His own and His own received Him not? Who likes being rejected? Nobody, of course.
Joseph was betrayed three times: a) by his brothers, b) by Potiphar's wife and c) by the king's butler. It is said that during his life a man must be betrayed at least three times. Jesus was betrayed three times: a) by the man He healed by the pool of Bethesda, after that they sought to slay Him, b) by Peter and c) by Judas. If you have not been betrayed, you will be.
And if you have been betrayed, it will not be the last time.

Pierced Hearts

There is a scripture in Psalm 105:17,18 which says: "Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron." The iron was not only round Joseph's neck, it pierced his soul also. Today we know the end of the story, the trouble is Joseph did not have the manuscrpts of the last chapters of his life. We have them and we read them comfortably in our armchairs. And yet today many children of God have iron chains round their necks and they are pierced by that iron. We remember once again the truth the Lord taught us: "All things work together for good to them that love God."
Training.
Training.
Training.
Joseph went through severe training. There were reasons for that severe training. He was sent to open a way for Jacob's family and all the tribes of Israel. He was sent to save them from hunger and bring them to Egypt so they could develop as a nation.
Years went by. Resentment, anger, the wounds caused by the betrayal were no longer there. He could look at his brothers face to face without vengeance or malediction.
I read about a Chinese man who fasted for forty days in prison. God was with him in a special way. Great things happened. He became ill. He was so ill that his body was placed with those who were dead or almost dead. The doctors knew he would not recover. Then something extraordinary happened. An angel stood beside him dressed as a doctor with a stethoscope hanging round his neck. He took something like a tube and blew inside the sick man and life entered into him. The fever left and he recovered instantly. The angel took him by the hand and went with him through the closed door. He took him up to the office of the head doctor and left him there. The doctor was very impressed when he heard his testimony and he was converted. The angel did not take the man out of prison. He could have done so. He just took him to the office and left him there. God was in the matter. Before he left the prison half the people were converted.
God left Joseph in prison till all the iron that had pierced his soul: betrayals, wounds, anger, resentment was no longer there. Then the Lord removed him from that hard place and exalted him before his brothers.

Glorified

One of the last declarations we read in the book of Genesis is what Joseph said to his brothers: "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
If we could but understand and see that God is in every circumstance of life!
It does not matter how much we have been wounded or betrayed; God is in it.
Let us lift up our head and praise God. Let us rejoice because He has taken us in His hands and has said: "I will form you. I will train you. I will make you in my image. You will stand through the ages glorified."
God did not train Joseph the same way as David or Moses. Each one was prepared for the place destined for him.
Some steps are ordered in difficult places, very difficult.
For Paul it meant prison, for Joni Eareckson a wheelchair, for Fanny Crosby, writer of famous hymns, blindness.
Yes, God trained Joseph to save his people and protect them till they became a nation.
He is also training His children to fulfil His divine purposes in them.

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