Through the hands of God...

Chapter Sixty:

I have always endeavored to keep whatever was happening in my personal life out of this blog as I want it to be a place for teaching and encouragement in order to challenge us to live our lives in a way that is more in line with how God would have us live.  However, I believe that I am to make an exception as something that recently happened to me lays the groundwork for this chapter.

I have had to deal with chronic pain/illness for many years, and one of the ways I have found to cope when I am laying in bed in pain is to reflect on the many ways God has blessed me.  In so doing,  it helps me to not focus so much on the pain and gets my mind onto better things.  Last week I was hurting and in bed.  I was laying there thanking God  when I heard this voice in my head say, "If you stop doing this God stuff, we'll back off on you."  I have to admit that at first I was surprised because this type of visitation from one the enemy's minions does not happen to me very often.  But I was even more surprised by my reaction to this offer...I laughed.  

And the reason I laughed was because I know that nothing happens in my life without God's permission. Later on when I told my good friend about this encounter with the enemy, she reminded me of something I had overlooked, that even this brief encounter with the enemy had to have God's permission.  She felt that God was allowing it to encourage me as I continue to do this blog, and it did, but it also reinforced to me how everything that happens in my life has to be approved by God.    Ecclesiastes 9:1a tells us "But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God...".   Everything that happens in any of our lives has to first pass through His hands.

 

  

We often read the story of Job when we are suffering or dealing with difficulties as a way to console ourselves, but do we pay much attention to the fact that Satan had to approach God, discuss why he wanted to intrude into Job's life and then receive God's permission to do so?  Satan, our enemy, cannot do even the smallest thing in our lives without asking God's permission, and if God allows it, you must believe it is for a reason.  Focus on what the reason is and not the enemy, for he is merely being used by God as an instrument in your life. God is trying to show you something or teach you something, and that should be what shapes your attitude.

One of the many wonderful things about God is that He is no respector of persons. In other words, He places as much value on one of us as he did on even the greatest of His Apostles.  While this can be difficult to believe, it is true nonetheless.  So, if Satan had to approach God to get permission to intrude into Job's life, then it stands to reason that he must have to do the same thing for every one of us, if we are truly following after God and doing His will.   If we truly believe that God loves us, then we can be assured that everything in our lives is happening because He is allowing it.  

If we are a people of faith, there is no place for chance, coincidence or luck. If we truly believe that whatever happens is allowed by God, then we can walk daily with the assurance that everything will be for our good, even if it does not seem so at the time. Only that which God permits to pass through His hands will come into our lives. And if you have difficulty with this, then it means that you need to re-evaluate just how much you truly do trust God. 

Difficulties and hard times have always produced the greatest Christians.  Hard times actually worked for them in their journey to a deeper walk with God and enabled them to be better equipped to do His work. They  learned not to trust in themselves but in the God who is in charge of all.  Christians of old learned that neither the world nor the enemy could block their progress unless God allowed it. 

We may not always see the hand of God in things around us.  In this life, we will experience only part of God's great eternal plan. We simply do not have the capacity to understand all the reasons why things happen as they do. This is where faith and trust must be what you rely upon, because if you always want answers, you will find yourself disappointed.

Another Scripture we often use to console or encourage ourselves is Romans 8:28, where it says that "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."  So if we love God and are doing His will, we are reassured that everything is working together, for a cause, for a reason, in our lives.  While it can be frustrating at times and we get impatient, we must hold on to the fact that it will all work together.  We can be assured by Scripture that it happens for a reason.  Psalm 31:15a,16 reminds us, "My times are in your hands; . . . Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love." 

As  A. W. Tozer said, "Accidents may indeed appear to befall him (the believer) and misfortune stalks his way, but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden providence and so cannot discover the ends at which He aims."  Tozer goes on to say, "Ten thousand enemies cannot stop a Christian, cannot even slow him down, if he meets them in a(n) attitude of complete trust in God."

My prayer for all of us is that we become even more aware of the fact that His caring hands are involved in all aspects of our lives, and that we find  not only comfort but boldness in knowing this.  I pray that we perceive this in greater measure as we go on in our walks with Him.

 

Will you be one who endures?

Chapter Fifty-nine:

With today's modern technology, it is very easy to keep up not only with what is happening in the local news, but we can get instantaneous news updates from every part of the world,  even as the events are actually unfolding.   This availability of technology can be overwhelming at times.  There are probably times in your life, if you have access to such technology and availability of information, that you feel like you need to just shut if off for a while because it can become so overwhelming.

Unfortunately, many believers are doing  that on a spiritual level. Even though we realize the  Church continues to become more like the world and less like how God desires the Body of Christ to be, we find that it is easier and less stressful to simply ignore what is going on around us.  We hope that if we can ignore it, it will make our lives less complicated and more manageable as the world is becoming a harder place in which to live. We can find many things to blame for what is happening, whether it be politics, the lowered standard of morals we see around us or how society has become more materialistic and less interested in the things of God.  So, why is it becoming harder to live this life of ours to the point that we feel the need to tune out?

The cause, the reason behind what we are seeing and experiencing in the world today is simply this...the attack by the enemy of God, Satan, is ongoing and is getting much stronger.  The spiritual forces that are against God are setting their aim against not only anyone who may be considering becoming a believer,  but particularly against every true believer and every Bible believing Church and some of us do not want to acknowledge that fact.  And if we do not want to acknowledge it, why on earth would we want to live our lives as though we were in some type of war, which is exactly the situation. We have allowed the desires and cares of this world and the stress of everyday life to keep our focus off of spiritual matters, and most importantly, spiritual readiness.

Please remember that just because we do not actively go out of our way to bother the enemy does not mean that he will stop carrying out his plans to try to destroy us.  He will not stop harassing us just because we do not want to get involved.  While we may think that if we can manage to stay out of things that we will remain untouched, the actual opposite is going to happen.  If we are unprepared for what Scripture tells us is going on, we will find ourselves in a bad predicament. We will be like the soldier who had to fight in the war that he wanted no part of, but in realizing he could not avoid it, found he was unprepared for it and suddenly wished with all his heart that he had been preparing for it.

Matthew 24:3 tells of how the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him what the signs of the end times would be.  He told them of wars, rumors of wars, and how believers would be hated by all nations for His name's sake. Stop and think about this for a minute.  We have become so accustomed to hearing about another war or turbulent times that we just tune it out.  But what about where Jesus warns that believers will be hated because of their choosing to follow Him? It should worry us that we are possibly unprepared and simply not ready for what is going to happen to us if we continue to stand with Christ.  We cannot hide from it and we cannot ignore it or wish it away. So we really only have  one option....to be prepared.

How do we prepare? We must be a people who walk close with our Lord in prayer, and who are in tune with the Holy Spirit for His promptings, leading and guidance .  We must be a people who study the Bible in order to be fed spiritually.  We must fast and pray and seek the Lord's face to find out what He would have us do. 

We must be a people who recognize that there are things happening all about us in the unseen realms, particularly as we are going about our normal, daily routines. It is easy to let our guard down when we feel our lives are just going along and not much is happening.  It is then that the enemy is more likely to attack because he will find us in a state of unpreparedness. We must be a people who have made the decision that we are willing to go to battle. We must be a people who do all we can to remain spiritually strong. And all the while we are doing these things we must remember to not allow fear to enter into our hearts as that will be our Achilles heel.

One of the main weapons the enemy tries to use against believers is fear, because he knows it  leads to our doubting and questioning God rather than standing alongside Him in the battle and being in tune with what He wants us to do.  Satan will do whatever he can to try to dissuade us,  distract us, and to ultimately  get us to walk away because it is all too much to deal with. But remember, we are taught in Scripture that the battle is ultimately the Lord's and it is He who will prevail, but we still must play an important part in all of this. We are to be His foot soldiers, doing what He commands.  Second Timothy 2:4 says, " No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer." In other words, we have to be working alongside God and be open to being used by Him and not allow our daily, earthly concerns get in the way. 

Charles Spurgeon said, " The Christian soldier hath no gun and no sword, for he fighteth not with men.  It is with 'spiritual wickedness in high places' that he fights, and with other principalities and powers than with those that sit on thrones and hold sceptres in their hands."

We are to fight the good fight.  Matthew 24:13 challenges us when it says "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." It implies that it will not be easy and that some will decide to give up,  give in and walk away. We must not allow our earthly concerns, or lack of desire to be involved, to be what keeps us from fighting and enduring to the end. We are promised in the Scriptures that what awaits us is far more worthwhile and everlasting than what we could ever hope to attain in this world.