Hope Discovery of the Day:
Not every curve ball that life throws us is foul.
Scripture of the Day:
Hebrews 10:36
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (NIV)
Life has lots of curve balls. Sometimes they hit us square on the head and it just does not make sense why God would allow it in at all. It seems he would have caught the foul ball and prevented us from being hurt by it. At least that is how we as humans tend to think, right?
God should only allow in the curve balls that we think are good. And this definition of good is dependent upon our definition. Do you see the problem there? Defining something as good because it feels good to us is humanistic thinking – in a vacuum. What might be good for us might not be for good for someone else. And not every curve ball is foul.
This is where God’s sovereignty blows me away. He uses everything – the things we deem as good and the things we deem as horrible – for our good and His glory. Accepting this truth about God is easier than accepting the reality of this truth when life hurts.
Accepting God’s will for our lives when our life is a mess seems out of reach and maybe a little disingenuous. But not accepting His will for our life can also cause us to be discontent and unproductive. So what does accepting God’s will for our lives look like? Sometimes we have to look at what it is not, first, to be able to learn the stumbling blocks that prevent us from accepting God’s will.
Accepting our circumstances is not:
Apathy.
We weren’t meant to go through life not caring. We were created to relate to God in the easy and hard times. All of it – the painful and the joyful times – are a part of His perfect plan even – or especially – when life hurts.
[Tweet “Giving up does not hold any promise.”]
Giving up.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Sometimes we give up right before we get a breakthrough. But giving up does not hold any promise. When we keep on keeping on, we will see the purpose of the curve ball when we get to the other side. Or perhaps it might not be until glory, but knowing the character of our God, we know our hope is firm and His purposes are always good.
[Tweet “Sometimes we give up right before we get a breakthrough. #KeepGoing”]
Accepting God’s plan for us is:
Trusting.
Knowing His character, we can choose to trust that He knows the end. Trust does not depend on circumstances. It is grounded in the reality of Who God is. It does not look at the waves, but the One Who made the waves.
[Tweet “Trust does not depend on circumstances. It is grounded in the reality of Who God is.”]
Patience.
Knowing that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day to our God Who is outside time, patience is likely something we will need to get good at. We can be patient when we know that God’s timing is perfect. We would not want to go outside of His will or timing. Father knows best.
[Tweet “Faith does not look at the waves, but the One Who made the waves.”]
Endurance.
Sheer tenacity in the face of daunting times is the fruit of acceptance. When we believe God and accept His will, He will give us the strength to endure.
[Tweet “We can be patient when we know that God’s timing is perfect.”]
Surrender
So, we know the “how to’s” of acceptance, but it would be futile to go through the motions of acceptance if our hearts are not in it. Ultimately, we come to a place of accepting God’s will for us by knowing Him – really knowing Him – through his Word and prayer. God changes us as we let go of our will and recognize that the creation does not know more than the Creator. We might not appreciate the hard times and wish they had never come, but, ironically, it is when life seems hard that we often come to know God best.
[Tweet “Sheer tenacity in the face of daunting times is the fruit of acceptance. “]
Lord, help us to surrender our will, our ways, and to not just accept, but embrace Your will for our lives. Help us to trust You implicitly. You are faithful!
Loved reading this! Always wonderful to be reminded of God’s promises and His will for us!
In His Name. Amen
Thank you, Melba.
I thank God for His precious promises! Thank you for reading! Have a blessed day!
I just can’t accept God’s plan after so many years of meaningless pain and suffering. I have tried so many times to accept it, but I had failed every single time.
What God has put me and my wife through isn’t good. If God thinks of is as purposeful then I don’t think I want to fill that purpose.
I doubt there is any goodness at all in God. Too many years of unanswered prayers, suffering and “divine silence”..
Hi Thomas,
I am so sorry for your pain. I do understand what you are talking about and so does God. The enemy wants you to blame God, but God is our Healer and refuge from this broken world. God doesn’t think it is purposeful, He is just so good that He can take that place of pain and turn it into a place of healing. It seems impossible, but ask Him to do it anyway. God is faithful. Always. Proverbs 27:13-14. Don’t let doubt win. It hasn’t helped heal anyone. But hoping in God has.
I can relate to this one. After enduring 30 years of hell trusting God, no good has come of it. I deeply regret that I ever trusted in the first place. All it has shown me is that God doesn’t care about me in the slightest as long as His will is done. The creator doesn’t care that He is torturing me by forcing me to live this life. I have learned that my creator is cruel and selfish, that is who God is to me now. He has failed me in every conceivable way. I’m at the point where I don’t think I could ever forgive His selfishness in creating me at all. The worst pain is from knowing that I surrendered it all to Him and was left with absolutely nothing but reject and rejection from Him
Hi Ann,
I am sorry for your pain, but I pray you can see that the hardship you endured was at the hands of the enemy of your soul, not God. Trusting God gives us peace in a fallen world. Christ came to suffer to save our souls. He paid for your sins and mine. He did not promise us a trouble-free life. We live in a broken world but trusting in Christ is our hope. We tend to be centered on self and wonder why God would allow pain, but we brought the pain into this world just as much as Adam and Eve did. Our rescue is Jesus. He is enough. But we do have to trust in Him. Truly trusting in Him means in the rain and in the sunshine and it happens when we recognize our sins and ask Him to forgive us. I pray that God will heal your heart and help you to know how great is His love for you. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
So you think the enemy created us? It’s my creator who breaks my heart everyday. My creator who forced existence on me everyday that hurts more than anything. Christ forgives our sins but that doesn’t begin to make up for God creating in the first place. You mention trusting Him in the rain and sunshine. Some of us never get to see the sunshine, all God gives us are hurricanes that never cease. When you would rather die than face another cruel day of Gods perfect timing and will for you, then what? The only way is to accept just how much God doesn’t love you, and that there never was any hope. To some of us God hurts and rejects us so badly, that we dread the thought of eternal life. Jesus isn’t enough to endure this for nothing. I cannot even imagine the level of contempt, hatred and selfishness my all knowing creator would have to have towards me to create me. Jesus’s sacrifice will never be enough to make up for what God did. I was the biggest fool to trust Him for 30 years, all it brought me was hell.
Ann,
Sorry I am just seeing this.
In answer to your opening question, the enemy did not create us. I am hoping that you might be willing to see the flaws in your logic so you might be able to see that the enemy has incited you against the One who truly loves you. But I know from personal experience that suffering makes it hard to believe and I am sorry for your suffering. Flaw #1 – Doubting God’s goodness and character. God is good and perfect in all His ways. Knowing the heart of God and His character is what gives us hope in suffering. This life isn’t our hope and as you have discovered, it is not Heaven. Flaw #2 – Doubting God’s intentions. God did not want you to suffer. He came to suffer the greatest to save you. He weeps for your suffering. So would you be pleased with God then, if your circumstances were perfect? I don’t think so. No one seeks God. But pain and suffering get our attention and we accuse God instead of running to Him for help. Flaw #3 What did God do, in your eyes? Does it line up with Scripture, or just your thoughts? If your thoughts are not perfect, why listen to them? Flaw #4 If you truly trusted in God then circumstances and suffering would not stop that. Suffering tests us to the core and cultivates doubt.
Being mad at God for something He did not cause is like being mad at someone who did nothing to you. This happens all the time. People assume the motives of someone and spread it around to cause others to hate that person. Fake news. Our brains can do that all on their own. When we place our thoughts above God’s, we will be deceived. Praying for you, that you will see and understand why the goodness of God is our hope and that you will also be provided some relief from your suffering.
Your exactly where you need to be. The situation stinks and hopelessness in your eye. It is only then that God will be glorified. If he hasn’t already shown up, expect a visitation for a turnaround.
Amen, Delma! God is always faithful!