It's an overcast, windy Saturday morning. While this is a statement of fact regarding the weather, it also aptly describes the conditions I have been experiencing in my life lately. I don't mean to imply that I am in the middle of a raging storm; things are just being blown around a little. My week started with the discovery that our faucet outside wasn't shutting off. It had been running very slowly, but continually for a few days. A call to our local water office confirmed that this "leak" was reflected in the next bill I would receive :(
I believe it was the very next day, that I was doing a load of laundry, when my machine started beeping. Lights were flashing on the control panel, and I couldn't get it to complete the cycle. The door was locked, and as of this morning, I still have wet clothes in my washer. I have been looking for a repairman, and think I may finally have found one. Wednesday, I was getting ready to go stay a while with my mother-in-law who was recently diagnosed with cancer, when I got a phone call from my husband -- it was his birthday -- who informed me that he had just hit a deer on the way to work. It totaled our car that we had purchased only six months before.
I really don't like sharing these negative bits of information, because they are so insignificant -- except for the cancer my mother-in-law is experiencing -- in comparison to all of my blessings. They are what, in recent years, have been termed "first world problems," or in an ironic sense, "third world problems." I like this new terminology. It helps me keep things in perspective.
There was a time in my life when any one of these events would have taken the air right out of my balloon. A broken washing machine would have colored every thing else in my world with a dreary colored crayon, until I had gotten it repaired. I would like to say that I don't get down so easily over these kinds of incidents anymore, because I am so mature. I have grown to the point that nothing disturb me. Yes, that's what I'd like to say, but it wouldn't be true. The truth is, over time, I have just repeatedly seen that things work out, one way or another, and that God is good. Good...that brings me to my next point.
As "bad things" have compounded throughout the week, I have continued to meditate on the scripture, "...All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28. I'm wondering how hitting the deer is going to work out for good. The insurance company started out offering us less than we owe on our car, and even if we get what we owe out of it, and enough to cover our deductible, there's still the headache of shopping for another car, and that whole process. I know we're talking about God here, and that He can cause it to work out for good. I've seen Him turn situations around plenty of times. Jesus told us... "...with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 NIV) I know God can and does, however, His priority isn't to turn situations around to suit us, but to turn us around to be suited for situations. A few years ago I had this epiphany: I realized that God is primarily concerned, not with our circumstances, but, with our responses to our circumstances. He cares when things aren't going right for me, but He cares more that I maintain a sweet spirit and trust Him, no matter what. This revelation was so freeing! It changed my mindset. Now when life is treating me unfairly, I realize that I am not a victim. How can I be, with the all-powerful God loving me and being aware of what's going on? He knows what He's doing, if He allows it. As Romans 8:31 says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Every adverse situation is an opportunity for me to bring glory to Him, by trusting Him.
This morning I thought about the stories in the Bible of how some of God's children, responded to their adverse circumstances...
Caleb -- when he had seen the fortified cities and the powerful people in the land God had promised His people -- "...We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." Numbers 13:30 NIV
David -- to Goliath, the giant -- "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty...This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands..."
1 Samuel 17:45-46 NIV
Isaiah -- when he heard the Lord ask, "...Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" -- "...Here am I. Send me."
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah -- when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace if they didn't bow to the image he had erected -- "...King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
Martha -- to Jesus after her brother had died -- "...I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." John 11:21 NIV
Mary (mother of Jesus) -- when told by an angel that she would give birth to the Son of God (though she was unmarried, a virgin, and betrothed to Joseph) -- "I am the Lord's servant...May your word to me be fulfilled." Luke 1:38 NIV
Paul and Silas -- after having been stripped, beaten with rods, thrown into prison, and their feet fastened in stocks -- "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." Acts 16:25 NIV
The demon possessed boy's father (one of my personal favorites) -- when Jesus told him all things are possible to him who believes -- "...the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'" Mark 9:24 NIV
It's no surprise that perhaps our greatest example of how to respond comes from our Greatest Example.
Jesus -- when treated unjustly -- "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth..." Isaiah 53:7 NIV
Romans 8:31 says, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" I know when Paul wrote these verses, the word "things" wasn't referring to my broken washer, and wrecked car, but I think it would be good for me to consciously give that some thought. What will I say in response to these things? I will declare: "...All things work together for good to them that love God...", whether I see the good in this life or the next. I will remember that God's goal is not to make this world perfect for me, but to perfect me for the world to come.
I believe it was the very next day, that I was doing a load of laundry, when my machine started beeping. Lights were flashing on the control panel, and I couldn't get it to complete the cycle. The door was locked, and as of this morning, I still have wet clothes in my washer. I have been looking for a repairman, and think I may finally have found one. Wednesday, I was getting ready to go stay a while with my mother-in-law who was recently diagnosed with cancer, when I got a phone call from my husband -- it was his birthday -- who informed me that he had just hit a deer on the way to work. It totaled our car that we had purchased only six months before.
I really don't like sharing these negative bits of information, because they are so insignificant -- except for the cancer my mother-in-law is experiencing -- in comparison to all of my blessings. They are what, in recent years, have been termed "first world problems," or in an ironic sense, "third world problems." I like this new terminology. It helps me keep things in perspective.
There was a time in my life when any one of these events would have taken the air right out of my balloon. A broken washing machine would have colored every thing else in my world with a dreary colored crayon, until I had gotten it repaired. I would like to say that I don't get down so easily over these kinds of incidents anymore, because I am so mature. I have grown to the point that nothing disturb me. Yes, that's what I'd like to say, but it wouldn't be true. The truth is, over time, I have just repeatedly seen that things work out, one way or another, and that God is good. Good...that brings me to my next point.
As "bad things" have compounded throughout the week, I have continued to meditate on the scripture, "...All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28. I'm wondering how hitting the deer is going to work out for good. The insurance company started out offering us less than we owe on our car, and even if we get what we owe out of it, and enough to cover our deductible, there's still the headache of shopping for another car, and that whole process. I know we're talking about God here, and that He can cause it to work out for good. I've seen Him turn situations around plenty of times. Jesus told us... "...with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 NIV) I know God can and does, however, His priority isn't to turn situations around to suit us, but to turn us around to be suited for situations. A few years ago I had this epiphany: I realized that God is primarily concerned, not with our circumstances, but, with our responses to our circumstances. He cares when things aren't going right for me, but He cares more that I maintain a sweet spirit and trust Him, no matter what. This revelation was so freeing! It changed my mindset. Now when life is treating me unfairly, I realize that I am not a victim. How can I be, with the all-powerful God loving me and being aware of what's going on? He knows what He's doing, if He allows it. As Romans 8:31 says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Every adverse situation is an opportunity for me to bring glory to Him, by trusting Him.
This morning I thought about the stories in the Bible of how some of God's children, responded to their adverse circumstances...
Caleb -- when he had seen the fortified cities and the powerful people in the land God had promised His people -- "...We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." Numbers 13:30 NIV
David -- to Goliath, the giant -- "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty...This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands..."
1 Samuel 17:45-46 NIV
Isaiah -- when he heard the Lord ask, "...Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" -- "...Here am I. Send me."
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah -- when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace if they didn't bow to the image he had erected -- "...King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
Martha -- to Jesus after her brother had died -- "...I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." John 11:21 NIV
Mary (mother of Jesus) -- when told by an angel that she would give birth to the Son of God (though she was unmarried, a virgin, and betrothed to Joseph) -- "I am the Lord's servant...May your word to me be fulfilled." Luke 1:38 NIV
Paul and Silas -- after having been stripped, beaten with rods, thrown into prison, and their feet fastened in stocks -- "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God..." Acts 16:25 NIV
The demon possessed boy's father (one of my personal favorites) -- when Jesus told him all things are possible to him who believes -- "...the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'" Mark 9:24 NIV
It's no surprise that perhaps our greatest example of how to respond comes from our Greatest Example.
Jesus -- when treated unjustly -- "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth..." Isaiah 53:7 NIV
Romans 8:31 says, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" I know when Paul wrote these verses, the word "things" wasn't referring to my broken washer, and wrecked car, but I think it would be good for me to consciously give that some thought. What will I say in response to these things? I will declare: "...All things work together for good to them that love God...", whether I see the good in this life or the next. I will remember that God's goal is not to make this world perfect for me, but to perfect me for the world to come.
