The Bible tells us there is a time and a season for
everything.
The strongest Christian will face life and death, health and
sickness, abundance and lack. Things will not always go well. Job experienced
that God sometimes allows seemingly bad things to happen (Job 2:10). There is
no sense living in denial. The Bible commands the barren to sing, when there appears to be no reason
to do so (Isaiah 54:1), when the natural tendency is to give up. Even
“righteous people” go through testing times of great intensity. We feel it is
hard to worship when things go south. But
worship is not about us; it is about God. It is not geared to sanctifying
our traditions and expectations but emphasizing Him. By nature we are all
self-centred and proud. We find it hard to express gratitude. We tend to think
only of ourselves when things are going well. Christians are not immune from
the highs and lows of relationships and personal feelings about circumstances.
It is in looking back that we can evaluate the totality of what has gone before
and see the hand of God upholding and His Spirit sustaining us. As
Jesus reminded us, God is a God of the living, of the “now”.
The average person in the street
depends on favourable events and circumstances for their happiness. We as
Christians, on the other hand, know that not every day is an emotional high but
our lives are underpinned by God who is greater than whatever life dishes up.
God is able
to do more than we can ask or think. He says, “If you call on Me I will answer
you.” Friends care, but they are limited. There are many things they simply
cannot do to help, even if they are available and willing to do so. On the
other hand, God will not allow us to be removed. Nothing can take us out of His
hand. He has promised us rest. We can trust Him with our all, as a lifestyle
choice. We know that He makes everything that happens in our circumstances work
for good and He is able to keep us from falling.
Problems are
a part of life, but God does not abandon us because we get into messes. He does
not destroy His servants. Even when we feel He is squeezing us, to produce
change, we can still affirm that we trust Him with our lives. When faced with
unusual or trying circumstances, Biblical faith says, This has a purpose (Job
23:10). Too many people directly or indirectly blame God for allowing events to
occur. It is easy to be glued to our setbacks, but this is not God’s way. The
Bible repeatedly calls Him the God of hope. He is faithful when Christians
suffer persecution, when a friend dies at the hands of an assailant, when abuse
occurs, when financial problems appear overwhelming, when a sickness is not
healed, when a friend is killed in a car accident, when Christians perish in a
tsunami? It is assuring to know He has a purpose. Life is not a tiny blip of
nothingness in the universe. Life IS God. His purpose is always to build
something that will last for eternity.
