All Things

Once again the Lord has strung together various readings to make a sweet God visit message that will encourage and strengthen our hearts.  Our God is a planner!  He plans out His teaching.  He opens His heart to us, leading us into His will and showering us with His love step by step by step.  This is probably one of my favorite things about our Lord.

Recently I listened to a teaching on trusting God in weaknesses by Joyce Meyer.  In it she brought up the example of Paul, and how he had a "thorn in the flesh" that he asked God to remove.  The Lord did not remove it, but instead told Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”   Paul's reply came in the second part of the verse:  "So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)   

Sometimes the things we ask for are not God's will for us.  They may seem good, they may seem right, but the Father (that wonderful planner we mentioned in the first paragraph) has a different, more excellent plan.  His answer to our prayer is not what we think it should be but it is exactly what we need, when we need it.   Not what we want to hear, but that doesn't make it any less true.  Our job is to trust when we see, think and feel anything but, trust that God will work in our problems, weaknesses and circumstances to bring about His perfect will for our life. 

Now to the second part of this visit.  I was reading a devotional a couple of days ago and came across a sentence (yes, one of those "one-liners") that caused me to stop and ponder for a moment.  The devotional was about praising God for the difficulties we see in the lives of our loved ones because we know they are designed or allowed by God for their good.  When I came across the line "all things are your servants" I just stopped.  Wow.  Yes.  That's exactly true.  All things are in service to the Lord.  Good things, bad things, hard things, easy things....people, situations, troubles, trials....All things. God causes them all to work for His purposes.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  It says "everything."  There are no exceptions mentioned in this verse.  All of what we go through, all of what we see our loved ones go through, everything serves God's purpose.  And anything we go through, His strength will carry us through.  But we have to let it.  Sometimes we may loose faith, we may question and falter, but we don't stay in that place of hopelessness.  We get back up, dust ourselves off and start believing again.

Our life truly is a journey with the Lord.  Bible verses become stepping stones to a strong walk with Jesus, where we grow in character and fruitfulness until the day we walk through the door of death into His loving arms hearing His sweet voice, "Well done my good and faithful servant..." (Matthew 25:21).

Thank You Lord for staying with us, leading and guiding through life, bringing encouragement to Your children as we walk through our time on this earth.  Thank You for helping us to grow, being our strength.  Thank You for the good plans and purpose You have for each of us and for those we love.  Help us to keep the faith, strengthen our trust, fill us with hope even when we can't see and especially when it hurts.  In Jesus Name, amen.

Memorize 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Romans 8:28.