GOD’s People Are Not Victims – Pt. 2

Believers are not exempt from adversity but when we, or our loved ones, come up against them we too often question GOD as to “why;” more so if we see our suffering as undeserved.

But here’s the thing, GOD knows the plan He has for your life, one that is unique to you, and so He is not surprised by your struggles and does not alter His plan which remains firm, whatever it is. In your good times and bad, you must trust GOD. …in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Keep loving and trusting Him. Endure in faith as you meditate on GOD’s Word and His promises. And, above all, don’t stop praying.

You are not a victim of your circumstances or a loser and you’re not abandoned or unloved by GOD because you are dealing with some hardship or sorrow.

English theologian Arthur W. Pink (1886 – 1952) wrote in his essay on the Supremacy of God, “Our lives are neither the product of blind fate nor the result of capricious chance, but every detail of them was ordained from all eternity and is now ordered by the living and reigning God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without His permission.”

Yes, you can feel totally overwhelmed and confused by your challenges sometimes – tell that to GOD as well and He will give you peace. No need to live in doubt and anxiety! Your omniscient and omnipotent Creator and heavenly Father in His supremacy is well able to manage your life according to His divine plan and will. With wisdom, power, and love, GOD cares for and directs all things in His universe, including that which concerns you. What He wants from you is your unconditional belief and trust in Him to do that, and that you tell Him often with joy.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

GOD has trusted you with adversity because He knows better than you do what you are capable of and what your future will look like afterward. He is walking with you all the way through to the end. Look for Him and you will find Him right there; He alone is your peace and strength. (Psalm 46)

You don’t have to understand it all in order to live through it well. As Moses explained it to the children of Israel, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29.

Proverbs 20:24 tells us that The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?  The New Living Translation (NLT) Bible commentary on this verse states, “We are often confused by the events around us. Some things we will never understand until years later when we look back and see how God was working…We shouldn’t worry if we do not understand everything as it happens”

Child of God, your Father in Heaven does not want you to worry about things you do not understand, even if they hurt. He wants you to remember how much He loves you (John 3:16) and, because He does, He directs all of your life experiences for your good and not for harm (Jeremiah 29:11).

Just let GOD be GOD in your life and your end will be better than your beginning, and better than you could ever imagine!

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

 

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, thank You for being the all-wise One who never fails His own. Forgive us when we take our eyes of JESUS, the author and perfecter of our fate, so doubt and anxiety assails us and we go off-course. Give us the grace to endure. Father, remind us that those who trust in You will have new strength to run the race each and every day and never grow weary. To You, Father, be dominion and power forever and ever. We pray all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

GOD’s People Are Not Victims – Pt. 1

Do you agree that people, in general, have become more depraved, wicked, hostile, and dangerous? Do you see your colleagues as immoral, greedy, and self-serving? Are you longing for the “good ole days” when neighbors were trustworthy and considerate and children respectful of authority and their elders? Does history actually support this perception of the “good ole days?” Does the word of GOD?

There’s plenty in Scripture that contradicts any notion that human behavior has worsened over time and people are at greater risk today than they used to be.

Before you are half-way through the first book of Genesis in the Old Testament (OT) you come face to face with envy, greed, malice, adultery, betrayal, murder, and all kinds of evil and depravity. Here are a few examples of OT living:

Cain kills his brother out of jealousy and spite: Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:1-16

Men of the city of Sodom attempt to rape angelic visitors to Lot’s house: all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” Genesis 19:1-10

King David, the “man after GOD’s own heart,” knowingly takes another man’s wife and then orders his execution to hide his sin: Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her…Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”…David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it, he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” 2 Samuel 11:1-27

We arrive at the New Testament Gospels and we see John the Baptist imprisoned and beheaded for speaking out against a ruler’s adultery with his brother’s wife and the Gospel’s main attraction; our Lord Jesus Christ lied about, brutalized, tormented and ultimately executed on the cross following an unlawful and unfair night-time trial instigated by corrupt religious and political leaders whose actions are driven by malice, envy, arrogance, and pride.

Paul in his epistle to the Roman church summarizes man’s depravity and the reason for it:

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:18-32

Paul’s description of evil humanity written in the year A.D. 54 accurately describes humanity today, A.D. 2020. Humanity is the same today as they were back in the book of Genesis and, except you are a child of GOD washed by the blood of Christ and being transformed daily by the Holy Spirit, Paul is telling us about some part of your life. 

If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. Romans 8:9b-10

Although society encourages a sense of victimhood at the hands of depraved humanity, the truth is that GOD’s wrath is upon all who have turned away from Him in that they are left to their own devices and whatever consequences come with it.

A child of God does not live a victimhood worldview. Are you exempt from suffering? Certainly not! Jesus clearly states that disciples Here on earth will have many trials and sorrows. John 16:33. The difference is GOD uses your suffering for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28.) His will is that you endure trials without losing faith in GOD. Through trials, you grow in His Kingdom. (James 1:2-4)

There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction. ~ Evangelical Anglican Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816 – 1900)

To be continued…

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, may Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in the lives of your people. Thank you for teaching us that our trials are never in vain. You are our strength, help us to trust our lives to you so we persevere, and are patient in affliction, knowing that You are a good and loving Father who does all things perfectly and for our good. To You, Father, be dominion and power forever and ever. We pray all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile