THE WAY OF GOD'S WILL
Rev. Sun Myung Moon

ON FAITH

IV. Test and Trial

The secret of not failing in a trial is that you not live self-centeredly.

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All difficulties and trials confront you so that you may correctly understand God's past days. Therefore, when any difficulty comes upon you, you should rejoice and be thankful. It is the proof of God's love for you.

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God always strikes His loving children first and then strikes Satan.

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Punishment occurs when you leave the heavenly foundation of existence. God does not directly punish you.

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Don't dislike confrontation or conflict. The wider the range of your confrontation, the greater chance of your success.

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If you are unjustly struck when you are on the side of good then Satan will no longer be able to strike you. If you are not struck when you are on the side of good then Satan will test you by striking.

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Instead of recognizing you, perhaps your leader recognizes someone lower than you, although you have devoted all your sincere heart. Instead of feeling discouraged you must pray as follows: "Father, you don't have to recognize me now. I will prepare myself until the time when you really rejoice because of me. I don't wish to be recognized by you when you are not yet happy."

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If you can win God's sympathy and be remembered by Him, His power will be in action more than Satan's oppression.

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My recent prayer is: "Please give Family members power to persevere even through great misery."

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Take responsibility even in the saddest, most unfair and mortifying situation. If you are determined in that way, all trials will pass away.

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No matter how Satan tries to test you, if you sacrifice yourself there won't be any problem. If you make excuses for yourself, however, Satan will come.

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Just as religions developed most amidst the struggles of martyrdom, you are free of corruption when under persecution.

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Christianity started from the cross and wherever it went was struck and shed blood. Christianity will not be able to dominate the world today unless it takes the position of being persecuted. Behold! On the top of Vatican Hill where the most martyrs died now stands the palace of Christianity.

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Heavenly strategy is to be struck and take things away from Satan. When you are struck, be struck well.

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My wrists have met handcuffs many times, but I am not a person who perishes because of imprisonment.

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Don't get exhausted. As long as you stay within heavenly law, you will develop automatically. Don't die but stay alive.

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If you escape from the gusty wind in your course of the wilderness, you will become the prey of vultures. Those who fear the period of wilderness are not true Israelites.

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Until now, prophets have been chained and beaten. Individuals and nations have been beaten. But as long as they are not swallowed by persecution they can subjugate it.

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In the period of wilderness, don't complain about your environment. If you had excused yourself because you were a woman, or because you were too old, or whatever, how would you have been able to follow Moses and avoid death in the wilderness?

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Pain and sorrow arise when you cannot establish an original, harmonious correlative standard and give and take action. When you don't take an objective position (especially in front of God, who is the essence of all things) then you are not living in a way that will guarantee the value of your existence.

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Three years after one knows the Will, he will face a big trial. This is to individually indemnify the position of Peter, who followed Jesus for three years and then denied him.

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Satan exists nowhere else than in "myself." Since ego exists, suspicion, jealousy, excessive desire and anger come about, so kill your ego. Everything that has to do with "I" is Satan. Scoff at and judge yourself. Satan always invades through someone or something that is closest to you.

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Undergoing many trials in your life of faith, lay the foundation of victory and create a solid rock which Heaven can trust.

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As a year consists of four seasons, in your life there is a spring-like period in which you receive blessing, a summer-like period in which the blessing grows, an autumn-like period in which you bear the fruit of the blessing, and then a winter-like period of trial. Therefore, be grateful for trials. They come from the love of God to separate us from Satan. If you endure and overcome them, a spring-like period of new blessing will follow.

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Grain kept in a barn after being harvested must still be further processed. It has to be husked more than three times and if it is crushed in the meantime it will never reach its master's table. Likewise, in our course of faith we must train ourselves amidst many trials and much pain. If we give way, we will be of no use.

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Just as stronger light casts stronger shadows, harsher trials yield stronger graces.

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To overcome a crisis you must have a deep religion, plans made in detail, and the ability to carry them out.

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"I" have been sought for, bought and exchanged at the price of the sorrow of Heaven. If you forget this, you will be unable to step over the historical current of death.

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I have gone through Satan's trial, but I have never been through the trials of true brothers and sisters, true parents and true children. Since you have gone through those three trials, you are better than me in that respect.

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Satan's trial comes at the peak of difficulty, on the cross. At that time not even God can interfere.

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If you act with the unshaken confidence that God acts following you, that His heart is with you, and that heaven and earth are under your direct control, you will be able to avoid Satan's invasion.

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Those who set up conditional objects and periods of indemnity by themselves can advance without going through trials by Satan.

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If you owe something to someone, you will have to become a servant for him. Otherwise, you will perish. You can establish your position only when others cannot accuse it although they may want to do so.

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Those who do not feel stimulation have roots that are decaying.

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When you meet persecution, you ascend vertically.

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Those who have desires only for themselves find themselves in darkness and shadow, but those who have desires for high purposes look refreshed and valuable.

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Among older members there are some who remember only the fact that they suffered, and who therefore have lost the power to march toward our purpose. These people are no different from the dead.

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When your faith is big, reality seems small. But when your faith is small, reality looms awesomely before you.

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When you confront a trial of degree ten, you should seek a trial of degree 100. If you do so, you will find yourself set free. If you visit a place even more miserable than the trial which you originally are to go through, God will support you.

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Never think you are facing all difficulties by yourself. Instead, think you are facing them along with Heaven. When you are facing great hardships, you must pray: "Father, I am willing to bear the indemnity for the mistakes of my ancestors. Please help me so that these mistakes may not be made anymore." Such a sincere prayer will fulfill your indemnity.

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Know what the critical problem of your central figure is and what your own critical problem is, and cross over them desperately.

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In order to walk the course of trial and pain, you need at least one comrade who can understand you in a situation where everyone else may discard you.

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Until you win a victory, you cannot put on a laurel crown after any trial.

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Jesus taught, "Be meek and humble. Surrender obediently. Serve in a sacrificial way." This was taught as the way to subjugate Satan.

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In order to become a victor you have to go through three trials: first, the pain concerning material; second, the trial concerning man; and third, Satan's direct trial or God's direct trial in place of Satan.

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Unless you overcome the trials of heaven and earth, you cannot restore the standard of goodness. The first trial is an environmental one; the second a human one, and the third a spiritual one.

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Trees send their roots deep into the ground in order to withstand a storm. In the same way, we have to be able to say, "Let the wind of Satan blow!"

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The Israelites perished because they did not know that there would come an even greater trial after they left their tribulation in Egypt for a path of freedom.

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God gives you grace in order to strengthen you for the path of suffering.

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Even if your wear a thin jacket, you can overcome winter if you run. In the same way, even if you are in a difficult situation you can overcome it if you are always ready to run.

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If you want to visit the unknown world you have to climb the highest summit. Thus, you will be able to look at the unknown world on the other side of the mountain. But it is not easy to reach the summit; you have to walk slopes of suffering and thorny paths.

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Patience and self-conquest are normal courses in the process of restoration.

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