I have a feeling that something is going to happen today. I think it's a good something. The more I think about the feeling itself, the more I think about what we talked about in the laystaff meeting this morning.
The main point that I got out of it (there was a LOT more than this though) was that by God's grace comes wisdom, knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6). When we don't understand something ourselves, the best and most important thing to do is to not lean on something that we lack (Proverbs 3:5)! Often we'll even think that we have total understanding of our situation...but we don't. What we perceive to be true and what is actually the truth is often wrong.
We also like to think that what we want is obviously God's plan for our lives, and that bad things just aren't meant to happen to us.
Just, no, guys. Gold can't be refined and made pure without fire.
I'll use an example from my life that will hopefully explain why.
I had back and neck trouble on and off for over 15 years. Yes, since I was four. It hasn't restricted me much, but I'd never been able to do push-ups because my back wouldn't support me. And pain is annoying. My pastor prayed for me one Sunday and I was healed. But then all of a sudden, I was in more pain than before! I didn't understand why I was in pain. I was angry. I cried. It took me two days to be able to ask someone why, and when I did, I had a massive facepalm moment. Turns out that when your muscles have been compensating for so long, when everything is put back right, you hurt even more!!!
I apologised to God for yelling at him, and I think he may have had a small chuckle. I know I did, in a sheepish kind of way.
My understanding failed me, I should have been listening to his voice. But at least I have now got a fantastic illustration for this point! See, there was God at work in multiple levels. Man, God is awesome.
We don't have the road map for our future, but God does (Jeremiah 29:11...the verse that stalks me). He's like our navigator, and we can choose to listen to his wisdom or choose not to. If he tells you something, you can believe him. My mum always says that you should check things you get with the Bible to make sure that it lines up...that's a whole other blog post though. But yeah. God gives wisdom and when he gives it, it's usually something that can be found in his word.
God has a plan for us, to ultimately make us prosperous (Jeremiah 29:11). We need to grow first to be able to reach our full and awesome potential. A horse cannot win any sort of prestigious trophy without first being gentled or broken, and put through rigorous training.
Likewise, we don't necessarily understand why bad things are happening to us. The horse doesn't understand why that infernal man has strapped a saddle to its back and is pushing it to run its hardest...in a circle of all things. You may not feel like you're going anywhere, but the more you grow and rely on God, like the horse that trusts its trainer and is obedient, the more awesome you'll become.
Trust Him with all your heart and don't rely on your own understanding! God is so much bigger and knows infinitely more than us. Listen to him. ;)
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