- Morning Devotional
- September 28,
2005
"Ouch!" (Part 4)
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Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad--because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world. (1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT).
Hardly a week goes by without my receiving emails, phone calls, or a visit from someone in trouble. Almost always the question comes, in one form or another, “Why does God do this to me?” When I am tempted to ask that same question, it loses its power when I remember that this Lord, into whose strong hands I long ago committed my life, is engineering a universe of unimaginable proportions and complexity. How could I possibly understand all that He must take into consideration as He deals with it and with me, a single individual! He has given us countless assurances that we cannot get lost in the shuffle. He choreographs the "molecular dance" which goes on every second of every minute of every day in every cell in the universe. For the record, one cell has about 200 trillion molecules. He makes note of the smallest seed and the tiniest sparrow. He is not too busy to keep records even of my falling hair. Yet in our darkness we suppose He has overlooked us. He hasn't.
Trials really shouldn’t take us by surprise. God’s Word consistently reminds us of this. Jesus even warned us of impending trials. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” So, why do we ask why? “Why is this happening to me?” “Why would God allow this?” I believe it is because we haven’t conditioned ourselves to ask another, more important question. The correct approach, especially in the midst of an “ouch”, is to ask “why” with the intent of learning something from the trial. Another way of looking at these experiences is to ash “what?” If trials are going to come, and they are, then what can we learn through the trial?
If it weren't for the situations in our lives where we have to totally depend on the Lord, it would be so easy for us to think that we have everything under control and that we don't need Him. We would get all the glory and our lives would never point others to Jesus. If it weren't for situations, which we simply do not understand, we wouldn't need to have faith to continue believing that God is good and merciful and loving no matter what is happening around us. We would get all the glory and our lives would never point others to Jesus.
Both complete dependence and faith in the midst of difficulty bring great glory to God, and open the way for Him to work. When He does, everyone around us then knows that it is the "works of God", not our own, which delivered us. He receives all the glory and our lives then point others to Jesus. What is God doing in your life today?
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