But God – Again

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7

I have been really pre-occupied lately with a problem in my life – actually in the life of my family. Because it’s not just my problem I feel like I have to be careful how much I reveal about it. The truth is that the problem isn’t what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is how God has helped me through it. For the most part I think that – at least emotionally – I am on the other side.

Let me say first that this has not been an overnight healing. I was way too much in the way, which I hadn’t realized until Sunday. I have said before that I had been hurt by the actions of others. From the very beginning I knew in my head that God was in complete sovereign control over all the circumstances. I knew that HE would work all things together for the good of my family and me. That knowledge did not stop the pain.

I have been praying, praying for me, praying for those who hurt me, praying for others in my family who have been affected, and praying that God would take the pain. About a month ago I was reminded by God’s Word that He is sufficient for all my needs. I started asking Him to make it true for me. He then showed me more and more about how I was to think if I was going to handle this issue biblically.

In God’s sovereign plan for all of His people never once does He say that He will make all things work together for our happiness or comfort. What He promises is to take every circumstance in our lives and use it for our good. Most often this is spiritual growth and the good of the body of Christ – our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

People are unreliable, they are selfish, and they are motivated by their own desires and concerns – even believers in Jesus Christ – even me.

Last week I was practicing preaching to my heart what I know to be true of my Lord and Savior in these circumstances of life. I begged God to forgive my selfish attitude and let me move on and serve Him without the impediment of a grudge or unforgiveness in my heart. He lifted that weight from me. I am not wallowing in the need to be constantly rehashing the events. I have given up the mistaken idea that if I do one more thing or rephrase my point of view one more time that then people will understand and change.

Changing people’s hearts is God’s work. I have spoken and I have prayed. My time to do more than pray is over unless God redirects me. He gets the credit for changing my heart and my attitudes.

Psalm 139: 23-24 say, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

God is the One who leads in the way everlasting. The grievous ways in me are grievous because of where they leave me. Though I felt as though I was the wronged party, holding onto it and wallowing in the pain of it only gave me grief. God is the one who frees us from that grief when we go to Him and truly rely on His sufficiency for all we need.

Many of us know a great deal about what the scriptures say about God but we fail to put that knowledge to use when we need it. We know that God blesses obedience. The whole point of living a life obedient to the scriptures is that we will show our love for God (If you love me you will obey my commands) and to live in the blessing that He promises us. When I really dug through the Bible this morning looking for those blessings they were the blessings of the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), grace upon grace given to us by God (John 1:16), the abundance of God’s steadfast love (Psalm 5:7), and the fullness of God given to us through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:19). I praise God that I am experiencing those blessings today – because of His sufficiency and grace.

In light of eternity I have but a few short years to serve my God and to show Him my love for Him through my service and devotion on earth. I waste that time when I stay caught in the earthly things that the evil one uses to keep my eyes off Christ. God warned Lot’s wife not to look back as He was rescuing her and her family from Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:26). I now understand why. When we look back at the things of this world we forget God. We are looking to the comfort and the temporal happiness we have experienced with other people and not forward toward His next blessing for us.