Read: Romans 8:31-39
"My flesh and my heart
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever.” - Psalm 73:26
When I surrendered my life
to Christ, I had the misguided notion that my life would forever float free of
any negative circumstances. I pictured myself tiptoeing through the tulips
without a care in the world. Boy was I wrong! The few initial trials I
experienced threw me off course. I stomped and squalled in disgust over the
fact that a child of God should be subjected to such inconvenient conditions (Psalm 73:13-14).
As I checked around with my
new friends, I found out that every one of them went through appalling
situations as well (Matthew
5:45). We all conjectured, postulated,
hypothesized and speculated about God’s reason for allowing this. We wondered
why He did not destroy our enemies who mocked us, did not prevent the
infliction of emotional wounds by calloused individuals and did not maintaining
the security of our jobs and our financial stability. The inequality of the
world weighed heavily on us and some injustices even inflicted pain in our own lives.
It appeared that the unrighteous people we knew enjoyed more blessings than the
righteous ones did (Psalm
73:1-12).
Our Pastor explained to us that
God is able to make everything work out wonderfully for us, but He teaches us
so much more through the negative times than the positive ones. In good times,
we ride along almost oblivious to the need for prayer and fellowship with Our
Father. As soon as something terrible happens, however, we run for cover under
the shadow of His wings. We remind Him that we are the apple of His eye (Psalm
17:8) and we misguidedly accuse Him of not taking proper care of us.
Over the years, I learned
that we suffer negative circumstances for several reasons. One comes from the
curse on the earth, caused by Adam and Eve’s rebellion. Sinful behavior by
others is the basis of most of our problems. We suffer harmful consequences
imposed on us by wicked people. On top of this our own sins, our poor judgment and/or
our faulty decisions are also a catalyst for our negative experiences. The good
news is that God’s grace sees us through all of these painful times and teaches
us lessons that we would otherwise miss.
God lives in eternity, and
His concern is with the infinite issues of life. He sees the end from the
beginning (Isaiah
46:10). God views 1000 years as if they
were only one day (2
Peter 3:8). We, on the other hand,
rarely focus on eternal issues. Our mind is consumed with the earthly realm and
what we experience with our senses. We view life with a finite mind.
In His unlimited wisdom God knows that our concerns are only momentary and fleeting, and that He has ultimate plans for our good, as well as for the eternal punishment of the wicked (Psalm 73:17). God teaches us to trust Him through the hard times, because He knows that the blessings are just around the corner. We grow deeper, wider and stronger roots and every trial strengthens our faith. God uses these exasperating situations to conform us to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Just look at the stars in the
heavens. God created every pin-point and He calls each one by name. He does
great things that cannot be fathomed and wonderful works that cannot be counted
(Job 9:9-10). His power and incomparable strength holds each one in
its place, and not one burns out without His knowledge (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4). God also spread out the earth and everything and
everyone in it. He gives breath to the living and life to every creature that
walks on the earth (Isaiah
43:5). His greatness is
incomprehensible. He made the heavens and earth by His great power and
outstretched arm. Absolutely nothing is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:17).
Even with the provision of all
of this for us, God went one step further to connect to humanity and to provide
for our needs. He sent His only Son to pay the penalty of our sin and to give
us His righteousness in exchange (Psalm 8:3-5). This
proves that He cares about every anxiety, distress, perplexity and difficulty
we experience. He promises to work them all out for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we are more than
conquerors because You love us. I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any power,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from Our Father’s love, which is in You, Our Lord (Romans
8:37-39).
Thought for the Day:
God esteems the person who
is humble and contrite in spirit, the person who heeds His Words. - Isaiah
66:2 