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.
