I Corinthians 1:8b-9
There are some verses that God really likes to bring home. His methods (if I may say this affectionately and with great reverence) are sometimes strange, and often very painful.
This past week, out of the blue, I was thrown into an odd test that has altered my view of the world forever. On the surface, I failed this test. I responded as any good athiest might. I balked, I became agitated and incensed, I fretted, I Googled, I bookmarked, I lost sleep, I made official phone calls, I made personal phone calls. A couple of times I broke down in exhaustion.
Tonight, having at long last let go of the worry for a while, I found myself focusing on it again. I replied at length this evening to an online news article related to the issue. I was careful in my comments to remember that I am His representative.
The Lord let me get these thoughts out of my system. Finally, after I'd said my peace, He whispered -- ever so respectfully, "It's time to stop thinking about this."
I am a beloved child of God, caught in an earthly battle that is beyond my strength. I've done all I can for the moment, but I still feel my muscles tied in knots.
Perhaps it's time to reflect on something the Lord once said through a wise friend of mine:
"Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will begin to grouse and to indulge in the discontent of self-pity – Why should I be treated like this? If we are devoted to Jesus Christ we have nothing to do with what we meet, whether it is just or unjust. Jesus says – Go steadily on with what I have told you to do and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance. The most devout among us become atheistic in this connection; we do not believe God, we enthrone common sense and tack the name of God on to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts."
Yes, Oswald. Guilty as charged. And now what I must do, since you put it so aptly dear brother, is to go steadily on with what Jesus has told me to do. He will guard my life. If I try to guard it myself, I remove myself from His deliverance. Strong words, but meant in kindness, because these words are intended to send me to running to His mighty arms, and to keep me there.
He is not just the commander of the battles He places us in, He is the victor.
...so that we would not trust in ourselves,
but in God who raises the dead.