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by Doug Laird

06/06/25
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“Do all things without complaining or arguments… (Phil. 2:14 NASB2020).”

Part Two

Spiritual maturity is measured by the amount of accurate Bible Doctrine one possesses, coupled with the willingness to apply it.

By reciting what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer (1), most Christians frequently pray for His will to be done.

But when His will includes all of the temptation and adversity that He sends, or allows to take place, they come to the realization that it was not His will, but it was really their will, was what they had been praying for.

God sends or allows us to get into situations and circumstances in which we find ourselves “in over our heads,” in order to teach or to remind us of the limitations of our human power and abilities, and the need of His power to overcome the challenges.

Other times, He sends or allows temptation or adversity to come our way to identify areas of weakness that He wants us to address. An “area of weakness” is one in which we are either ignorant of what God has to say, or are unwilling to apply it.

Failing to address our areas of weakness is why we repeatedly find ourselves in scenarios in which we face the challenge to address an area of weakness. We can only expect more of the same until we repent (change our minds) and do what God requires of us for our own good and His glory.

The advancing disciple has learned not to ask WHY has this happened, but WHAT it is that God desires to accomplish by having sent or by having allowed the adversity to take place.

. . .

If a born-again believer is to reach this level of spiritual maturity, where he or she does all things without complaining or arguing, he or she must develop and master 24/7 contentedness.

There is nothing wrong with improving one’s secular environment through legitimate means, providing it does not compete with the plan that God has in mind (2).

Keep in mind, that in the process that you cannot serve two masters (3).

The devil will give you all the prosperity you want, IF that will take your focus of attention away from what God desires to accomplish in and through you.

One will never experience lasting contentment by getting more until he or she is content with what he or she already has.

The ultimate test of contentment is the ability to remain contented in one’s relationship with God after suffering a great loss, here on Earth.

Paul spoke of being content, regardless of what is taking place all around him (4). He l-e-a-r-n-e-d to be content in times of adversity as well as in times of prosperity.

The advancing disciple remains content, regardless of what the Lord gives or takes away, so long as he or she is assured that he or she is where God wants him or her to be, and doing what God wants him or her to be doing.

The advancing disciple will no longer compare his or her blessings or adversity to the blessings or to the adversity of those around him or her, as this too can be a major distraction (5).

Those with spiritual discernment know where all of these distractions are coming from and what they are intended to do (6).

The devil knows when, how, and with what means to distract us from the plan that God has in mind.

He attacks when and where we are most vulnerable.

Our moaning and groaning do not go undetected on the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil radar screen, alerting them to a favorable time to attack.

Only an advancing disciple reaches the point where he or she can whole-heartedly say, “For me to live is (for) Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1: 21 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”

As long as we live to carry out our own independent plans and objectives, we will spend much of our time in competition with the plan that God has in mind for us.

We will try to maintain our balance while keeping one foot in the plan of God in order to receive divine benefits, with our other foot in our plans, seeking our own benefits.

As (IF) we spiritually mature, these two paths become further and further apart, forcing us to choose between the two; prioritizing one and forsaking the other.

To the extent that our circumstances allow, we are naturally inclined to do what we please ourselves.

Our independent plans obviously would include engaging in any activity that God calls sin, but can also include relatively good activities, if and when they distract or impede us from identifying and executing the plan that glorifies God.

It is the inevitable conflict between what we may want to do in order to fulfill our plans, and what God would have us do to fulfill His, that is at the center of most of our moaning, groaning, and complaining.

If and when a born-again believer reaches the Phil. 1: 21 stage of spiritual maturity (living for Christ) that this source of conflict is resolved. It is then that our plans are dismissed and His plans take center stage.

It is then that we become spiritually mature enough to acknowledge that all of the adversity that God (7) sends or allows to take place serves a divine purpose, and IS a part of the individual plan that God has in mind for us.

This adversity could be the result of divine discipline (8) for post salvation sin, or it could the adversity associated with the type of suffering associated with discipleship (9).

The good news is that there are divine solutions (10) to both scenarios, allowing us to move forward in the plan of God.

Just as a child will cry, squirm, and wiggle in our arms and try to shake loose from our hand in order to be put down and allowed to walk its own way, we, as immature believers are so-inclined to shake loose from divine restraints and guidance that hold us back or bring us where we don’t want to go.

As we spiritually mature, there will be less and less complaining and a more harmonious and glorifying walk with the Lord.

Many things can happen that can change or cancel OUR plans in a heartbeat, but nothing can happen that can change the plan that God has in mind for each one of us.

When we see things through divine viewpoint, we will have nothing to complain about. We will endure hardship for Him, keeping in mind the hardship that He endured for us.

(1) Matt. 6: 9-13 (2) 3John 1: 2 (3) Matt. 6: 24 (4) Phil. 4: 11-12 (5) Psalms 73:2ff (6) 1Pet.5: 8 (7) Job 2:10 (8) Heb. 12: 6 (9) Phil. 1: 29 (10) 1John 1: 9/John 15: 5

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