"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." -Psalm 55:22
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28
Life is filled with problems;
some we create
for ourselves, some our loved one's create for us, and others which are
completely beyond our control. These are ALL "trials" which TEST our
faith.
Anyone can have faith in God during fair weather; BUT, the true TEST of our faith is how we respond during stormy weather, when we can't see our hand in front of our face. Most Christians have a very weak faith, a shallow faith, a temporary faith; which when the winds of tempest arise, they quit and behave no better than the heathen.
Christ should be our example during our times of pain, mental anguish and suffering. I know the overwhelming feeling of mental anguish. There's been times in my life when I'd wished I'd never been born. Ah, but God promised in Psalm 30:5 that weeping only endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
I know what it's like to suffer overwhelming, emotional, pain. I know what it's like to wake up from a nightmare to a bigger nightmare, unable to do anything about the situation. There have been many times in my life, when every second seemed like an hour, and every hour like a day, and every day like a never ending eternity. At those times, the only friend I had in the world was the Bible.
I have learned during these times that we need to keep our eyes on the Lord. Do you think God is pleased by our faith only during the good times? What about one's faith during the storms of life? A faith must be tested.
The Word of God says in Psalm 30:5, "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." There is always Light at the end of the tunnel for a Christian. God will one day wipe away all tears, and there will be no more pain (Revelation 21:4). What a day that will be! Only Jesus Christ can make everything right, when life seems so wrong.
Perhaps you feel that nothing you could ever do
can make things right in your life. May I say, friend, that is why Jesus
came into the world, i.e., to make things right for us, because we cannot.
Jesus came to make everything right through His blood sacrifice. Thanks be
to God, Jesus has paid our sin debt, to set us free from the enslavement of
sin (John 8:32-36). Jesus Christ has set the believer free from the curse of
the Law. Amen! This earthly life will soon be o'er and we will be on
Heaven's golden shore.
Romans 8:28
We are PROMISED in Romans 8:28 that ALL THINGS will "...work together for good..." for every born again Christian. God says in Verse 30 that he has "called" everyone whom He has predestinated. It is very important to notice in Verse 29 what God has predestinated every believer to, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..." God never predestinates (chooses) anyone to salvation. Rather, He simply knows in advance who is going to be saved, and predestinates those believers to be conformed to Christ's perfect image.
God had our future planned out BEFORE we were ever conceived in the womb. Jesus said in Matthew 25:34, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." What a beautiful Scripture! We can't see the end result of our life; BUT, God can.
The future is uncharted waters. Praise Jesus, He KNOWS what our future holds, which is why we should trust God, doing our best to live for Him. One way or another, God will work everything together for good.
Carefully notice in Romans 8:28 that the Bible doesn't say everything good will happen. No, God promises us that everything will ultimately WORK TOGETHER for good. No one would want to eat baking powder, sugar, eggs, flour, or salt raw; but when you put all those ingredients together you get a delicious cake. Likewise, all of the tragedies and bad experiences in our life WILL work together for good if we believe on Jesus, the Christ.
I am often reminded of the words in the song, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" which states, "Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bare, because we do not take it to the Lord in prayer.
"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22).
We read the same beautiful promise in 1st Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
The Book of Esther in the Bible teaches a wondrous truth. Amazingly, God is not mentioned even once in the entire Book. Yet, we see God's sovereignty and work throughout the entire Book. The lesson is simple—When you can't see the hand of God, trust the heart of God. Please read the Book of Esther and you will be encouraged that God works in MYSTERIOUS ways. That is, mysterious to us, because we often don't understand; but God certainly knows what He is doing. I am going to trust Him. God knows the way. All we need to do is follow.
My mother used to often say ... “God always works in mysterious ways.” She was right. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).
Oh, listen friend, joy ALWAYS comes in the morning for the Christian, when the Lord will make everything right; but we must TRUST the Lord and cast our cares upon Him continually, being patient, preaching the Gospel and believing His Word. Jesus commanded in John 5:39, “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES!”
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." -1st Peter 1:7
