"He said,
'I came naked from my mother's womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The LORD gave me what I had,
and the LORD has taken it away.
Praise the name of the LORD!'"
Job 1:21-22 NLT
The worst had happened. His greatest fears had been realized as he lost his family and his wealth, all in one day. Wave after horrible wave of news arrived, seeming to knock the air out of his lungs.
In the midst of the horrible revelation, in the middle of learning the worst, while he was still numb from shock, Job recognized an important truth about God: He is sovereign. What does this mean for me?
I won't get it. I always thought it would be hard to serve in the Army like my husband did for 24 years. During his years of service, he was expected to follow orders, even if they didn't make any sense. It is important for a soldier to learn how to do as their told so when the moments of heated combat come, there will be no hesitation in putting the battle plan into action. When everyone trusts the commander enough to follow his orders without question, success is more likely.
Living my life as a follower of Christ is similar. The difference is that my Commander is all-knowing and understanding. He knows exactly what is needed to draw my attention back to Him, to hone my faith, and to further His purpose. God has the perfect solution for every problem. He has His own ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, my role is not to expect to be able to comprehend His reason for allowing certain difficulties into my life, but to simply trust Him. He does have a plan.
Trust is not dependent upon my ability to understand what is going on and why it is happening.
He's still good. It's all good. It's one of my least favorite phrases in today's modern vernacular. It sets my teeth on edge when I'm facing something hard and I hear the loathsome phrase. How can they say this is good? It's far from it!
While it's true that God will use all things for my good, the circumstances, difficulties and just plain ugliness is not good (Romans 8:28). What I can say with all certainty in the midst of the sorrow, grief and misery is that God is good. He is a noble God who is worthy of praise and His purposes are always beneficial and what's considered as His best for me. As a result, I can always praise Him.
Praise to God is not dependent upon my circumstances.
No guarantee. I love a money-back guarantee. It allows me to try a product or service for a period of time, testing to see if it's worth my money. If I don't like it after the trial period, I can get my money back. If I found it to be worthwhile, then I can keep it as my own. That way, there is no risk.
Why do I find this benefit to be so helpful? Maybe its because I want to see for myself if something is good instead of simply taking the word of the clever marketing scheme: It's hard for me to think I might be taken advantage of. I want the security of knowing I won't lose time or other valuable resources while testing the veracity of the promise.
The problem comes when I translate this same desire to life. I've not been promised tomorrow, yet I assume it will be there. I can't expect things to go the way I think is best, yet I usually want it my way. The direction my life takes is not my choice to make, yet I like to think I can control the outcome if I try hard enough. Life can seem an awful lot like gambling.
Since following Jesus takes a risk as I give up my autonomy, rights to my self, and independence, I must also see that there are no guarantees in general. As a result, I can look at each day, every opportunity, and all the openings I receive as gifts. Since I don't know the plan God has for my life, I must trust Him in each moment, taking all that He gives with a spirit of thankfulness (Philippians 4:6-7).
Thanks is not dependent upon what might be but entirely based on what is.
There is no question that life is hard. It is filled with times of suffering, difficulty and trial. When these inevitable times comes, I could get angry at God, losing my faith in Him, failing to praise Him for anything, and withholding thanks until things feel better again. Or, when the crisis hits I could continue to trust Him even though I don't get what God is doing, praise Him for His goodness in the midst of the bad, and thank Him for all He is to me. In these ways I am realizing what Job did: What comes my way is God's choice.
As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to not expect to understand.
When do I think that I can't trust God because He is allowing such pain into my life?
How am I being narrow-minded and selfish in my view of God and His purposes?
Living my life as a follower of Christ is similar. The difference is that my Commander is all-knowing and understanding. He knows exactly what is needed to draw my attention back to Him, to hone my faith, and to further His purpose. God has the perfect solution for every problem. He has His own ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, my role is not to expect to be able to comprehend His reason for allowing certain difficulties into my life, but to simply trust Him. He does have a plan.
Trust is not dependent upon my ability to understand what is going on and why it is happening.
He's still good. It's all good. It's one of my least favorite phrases in today's modern vernacular. It sets my teeth on edge when I'm facing something hard and I hear the loathsome phrase. How can they say this is good? It's far from it!
While it's true that God will use all things for my good, the circumstances, difficulties and just plain ugliness is not good (Romans 8:28). What I can say with all certainty in the midst of the sorrow, grief and misery is that God is good. He is a noble God who is worthy of praise and His purposes are always beneficial and what's considered as His best for me. As a result, I can always praise Him.
Praise to God is not dependent upon my circumstances.
No guarantee. I love a money-back guarantee. It allows me to try a product or service for a period of time, testing to see if it's worth my money. If I don't like it after the trial period, I can get my money back. If I found it to be worthwhile, then I can keep it as my own. That way, there is no risk.
Why do I find this benefit to be so helpful? Maybe its because I want to see for myself if something is good instead of simply taking the word of the clever marketing scheme: It's hard for me to think I might be taken advantage of. I want the security of knowing I won't lose time or other valuable resources while testing the veracity of the promise.
The problem comes when I translate this same desire to life. I've not been promised tomorrow, yet I assume it will be there. I can't expect things to go the way I think is best, yet I usually want it my way. The direction my life takes is not my choice to make, yet I like to think I can control the outcome if I try hard enough. Life can seem an awful lot like gambling.
Since following Jesus takes a risk as I give up my autonomy, rights to my self, and independence, I must also see that there are no guarantees in general. As a result, I can look at each day, every opportunity, and all the openings I receive as gifts. Since I don't know the plan God has for my life, I must trust Him in each moment, taking all that He gives with a spirit of thankfulness (Philippians 4:6-7).
Thanks is not dependent upon what might be but entirely based on what is.
There is no question that life is hard. It is filled with times of suffering, difficulty and trial. When these inevitable times comes, I could get angry at God, losing my faith in Him, failing to praise Him for anything, and withholding thanks until things feel better again. Or, when the crisis hits I could continue to trust Him even though I don't get what God is doing, praise Him for His goodness in the midst of the bad, and thank Him for all He is to me. In these ways I am realizing what Job did: What comes my way is God's choice.
As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God enough to not expect to understand.
When do I think that I can't trust God because He is allowing such pain into my life?
How am I being narrow-minded and selfish in my view of God and His purposes?
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