Weekly Devotional 7-1-24 When Something Goes Wrong
Many people who claim to have a relationship with Jesus Christ lose faith when something goes wrong in their lives, and we wonder why? Of course we must keep in mind that there may come a time in our own life when we might reach such a breaking point. None of us can say that we have experienced everything that comes with life. There will be experiences ahead of us that we cannot even imagine. When news of a cancer comes for instance, how would you react? How would I react? It would be wonderful if we could assuredly say, “though He slays me yet will I trust in Him.” We just will not know until we are tried. Yet, it is possible to face such trials and not lose faith. The apostles proved that. They all faced persecution, and most were martyred for their faith but did not waiver.
Paul, for instance, wrote, “8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
In another letter (his epistle to the Romans) Paul wrote that he had become persuaded “38that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
The question is, how could Paul, how could the apostles, how could many throughout Christianity’s history suffer extremely devastating things and yet not lose faith? The answer from Scripture seems to be in their relationship with the Lord. The closer they were to Him, the more time they spent with Him, the more they trusted Him, the easier it was for them to endure the trials that came their way. Paul, for instance, had an ailment that was very bothersome to him for he prayed on three separate occasions that the Lord would remove that ailment from Him. Rather than remove it, the Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2nd Corinthians 12:9). Examining that promise we come to realize that grace is God’s gift to His children, not just to Paul or a selected few, but to all His Children. We also come to realize that His grace is sufficient to meet that which we cannot overcome or accomplish by our own strength. We should also make note that in the sufficiency of His grace there is no hint of failure.
The more time that Paul spent learning of the Lord and communicating with Him, the more he realized that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Could this be our realization also, if we, like Paul, spend time with the Lord and learned of Him?
Brothers and sisters, our faith will be tested. We will be tested by the world, we will be tested by Satan, and by our physical and spiritual infirmities. There can be no doubt about it; however, there is a purpose in the testing. It is to be formed into the image of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). It is those things that God uses in conforming us to His image.
If we allow His strength to flow in and through us, we will be victorious, and our faith will not waver.
Steve
Transforming Power; the Work of God on Behalf of Man
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