“It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God
sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted,
saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things
that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every
circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the
Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart,
which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not
recognizing that He had ordained the situation. […] Being faithful to Jesus
Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to
our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be
faithful to Jesus Christ. […] The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do
work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. […] God wants
to use us as He used His own Son.” CHAMBERS
As I read the Utmost For His Highest devotion this morning,
my thoughts went to Joseph. When he was
a boy, he was naïve when he shared his dream with his family … instead of
encouraging him, they resented him. God
revealed that He was going to use Joseph. But then, the bottom fell out of
Joseph’s life. A series of bad things
happened to him, for years - not days, things that he did not bring on himself,
but they happened because of the bad intentions of others. Why would God allow these things to happen to
a guy who was trying to do the right thing?
We have the advantage of being able to read the end of the story to see
how God shaped him through these apparently “bad” experiences for the work God
had purposed that would bring glory to God . .even to this day.
So it is with our lives.
We experience bad things in our lives .. emotional and physical pain .. and
in the midst of that moment, have a difficult time seeing what good might come
from it. We wonder if God is sovereign …
if He knows …. if He cares .. if He is going to intervene. We pray … we cry out … but God is
silent. How could any good come from
what we are experiencing? It is a great
test of faith. As difficult as it may
seem, rather than ask God for relief, we should ask Him for strength … for the
faith to persevere … to shine in the midst of the trouble . .to be broken and
spilled out for His glory .. just like His Son .. Just like Jesus .. ELGIN
“When peace like a
river attendeth my, when sorrows like deep billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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