Today's Word

 

We all pass through trials in life, none of us are immune. Even though we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour, God still does not shield us from misfortunes that come upon the whole of humanity. The natural disasters that largely come from climate change, affect both saved and unsaved alike. Miracles of salvation do occur, but what right have we as Christians to believe that we should be treated differently? 

Many of you will know, that I lost my only brother in a car accident when he was in his 40’s. He knew the Lord and yet he was taken from us early. My parents, who also had a strong faith in God accepted it, but as human beings, never really got over it. I, as a human being, still see no reason or benefit that came from his death, but like my parents, I have accepted it and one day God will explain what I cannot see now because His wisdom is perfect.

In the last letter the Apostle Paul wrote, the second book of Timothy, he was imprisoned in Rome and expecting execution. Many of his fellow workers had deserted him or were not visiting him because they were afraid of being imprisoned themselves, and he felt very much alone. And if we are truly honest, many of us have had that deserted feeling at times. But he wrote these words which, should not only comfort us, but, more importantly, which we should cultivate and emulate in our own lives, “Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me!” If we try to fight misfortune in our own strength, we will fail completely. If we try to explain the benefits that come from misfortune, to seek to understand why it is happening, we will end up disillusioned because we do not have God’s vision or know His plans, because we are feeble human beings at best.

Why was Paul taken out of a magnificently successful ministry? He never once mentions that question in all his letters. BUT, he had faith in God’s plan for him, and he experienced the nearness of God which comes from faith and God strengthened him for the ordeal he still had to face in the future.

More importantly still, he went on seeking to serve God in any way he could, witnessing and writing letters to the churches he had helped to found and those letters are one of the best sources of spiritual wisdom that have ever been written. Another hymn comes to mind which was written by someone who must have been passing through adversity, “ I am not skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know at His right hand, stands one who is my Saviour”. That is all we need to know and if it was good enough for Paul and many millions of other Christians, why do we think we are the exception?

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church