When bad things happen we may never understand the why. God tells us, ‘’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Joseph suffered. David suffered. The disciples suffered. Elizabeth suffered. Mary suffered. Martha suffered. Mary (Jesus’ mother) suffered. Paul suffered. Jesus suffered. And each one of these men and women were smack dab in the middle of God’s will. The ordinary pabulum of popular religion, of health and prosperity, just doesn’t line up with the suffering we see among some of the most godly men and women in Scripture. The abundant life that Jesus came to give does not come without struggle any more than a butterfly can soar without a struggle from its cocoon. We would never slice open a cocoon and expect to find a butterfly ready to fly. Without the struggle, the butterfly could not grow strong enough to take flight. Jesus warned us that we would have struggles in this life, and yet struggles always seem to catch me by surprise. “Consider it all joy,” James said, “when you encounter various trials…” (James 1:2, NASB). Notice James said when and not if. Honestly, I wish there were some other way. Sometimes life is tough. As we practice Acts 17:28, In Him we live and move and have our being, it does not mean that we will walk down a path void of treacherous twists and turns. It does mean that no matter where the road may lead, we are not alone. So many times I’ve cried out with King David, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” only to discover that He was right there with me all the time. None of us knows what the future holds. Sometimes we just need to put our hand in God’s and walk around the next corner with Him—even when we don’t understand. In that journey of the unknown, we’re apt to experience moments of sudden glory in well-placed nuggets of gold. Let’s Pray Father, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, which is about the scariest place I could ever walk, I will fear no evil…because You are with me. I am placing my hand in Yours and walking around the next corner with You. I don’t know what is around that corner, but You do, and that’s enough for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Goodnight and sweet dreams
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 18:37:02 +0000
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