Tried and tested to conform in His image
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:26-29
When a baby is born to a family, people try to look at his or her face and try to figure out if the baby looks like the father or the mother. There is difficulty to determine resemblance early on at birth. But as soon as the child grows, resemblance to the father or the mother seemed to become clearer. Same is true with being the child of God. Once you accept Christ as Lord and Savior, your resemblance to Jesus Christ is not yet visible. Though this is God’s goal for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, yet it takes certain things in life in order for this goal to be achieved. God will use every experience you will have in life to conform you in His image. As you grow in your Christian life, you can expect that there will be difficult instances that you need to endure as you serve the Lord. These could include the loss of job, crisis in the family, health issues, loss of a loved one, financial burdens, broken relationships, betrayal and misunderstanding and a variety of challenges. What God promises from His word that inspite of all these life’s challenges, His goal of conforming you to His image will be your final destination. So when faced with challenges in life that might threaten your experience of happiness be rest assured that your joy is not dependent on suitable circumstances in life but by knowing that with God “all things work together for good.” What is achieved is nothing found in this world but the knowledge that you are becoming just like Jesus. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). So when life brings you difficult circumstances, do not let them rob you of your joy. Joy comes because Christ is in you. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
Blessings.
