Written by David and Debbie Meece
Then Job replied to the Lord:
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?
Surely I spoke of these things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:6
In hours of darkness it is easy to feel that God has forgotten us, and at times we even blame Him for our pain. Instead of lifting our hands and worshipping Him, we often accuse God as if He is an unfeeling puppeteer yanking the strings of our lives and leaving us limp and useless.
How confused we are about the presence of God in our lives! What misconceptions we pin on God about the afflictions that case our pain. Many of us desperately need to learn that each trial is for a purpose and that the same God who sends the clouds also clears the skies.
It is not always easy to understand that the Lord is drawing us closer to Him through every fire that we endure. But the very fact that we go through trials in our lives is proof that there is something very precious in us to our Lord. He would not spend so much time testing us if He did not see the precious ore of faith mixed in with the rocky waste of our natural sinful selves.
He allows trials of faith to enter our lives in order to purify our hearts and to deeply reveal Himself to us. Many of us must do a 180-degree turn in our thinking and realize that tests of faith draw us nearer to God and teach us about His love in ways that we would never understand otherwise. Our anger, frustration, and self-pity must finally give way to a humbling realization that God is loving us through those times by making us deeply aware of our helplessness and sin, burning away the chafe to reveal Himself to us. God is impressed by nothing but a broken and humbled heart. We must remember that He is always there, always in control and always loving us. Every tear we cry He cries with us. He yearns for His children to find His peace.
Our anger should instead be directed toward Satan, who seeks to destroy our relationship with God, our relationships with each other and with everything that is holy. He attacks subtly and by any means, he can find to thwart our faith. His goal is to turn our hearts against God. But the confident and believing heart thanks and worships God for all that transpires in life, knowing that each trial is but a gracious invitation by a loving God to be in deeper union with Him. A heart for God knows that the promises of heaven await!
When has a difficult time in your life drawn you closer to God?
Written in conjunction with David’s “Once in a Lifetime” CD
From the “Once in a Lifetime” Devotional
