1.) “I am in sovereign control over your situation.”
Psalm 115:3 “Our
God is in the heavens and He does whatever He pleases”
Do you believe this?—do you really? If you are a child of
God nothing in your life is random or accidental. Jesus taught His Disciples in
Matthew 6 that God is our heavenly Father who God cares for the birds of the
air and the flowers of the field, He even knows when one falls to the ground.
How much more is He intimately, powerfully, lovingly controlling every detail
of your life?
This doesn’t remove the pain or resolve the perplexity, but
what comfort it brings to know that our heavenly Father is in complete, loving,
caring, control. Don’t be afraid of this truth: This problem is from
God. It might be hard, and it might hurt, and the fire might be hot—it was hot
for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego—but God was right there with them in that
fire, wasn’t He? This trial is from God, and He is in control. But He says something
else—
2.) “My glory and your good is the purpose
behind your problem.”
Romans 11:36 “For from
him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
His glory: He has allowed this problem
into your life—to show off the splendor of His glory. Wow! What a privilege we
have when God afflicts us: our problems are painful opportunities to put our
God on display, to show off His wisdom, power, and mercy.
We can be myopic, we are up too close – and we are wringing
our hands asking “What’s happening to me? Why is this happening to me? What’s
going to become of me?” But it’s not just about you, it’s not even mostly about
you, it’s about the grand plan of the universe which is to bring all glory and
honor to God. And you can be absolutely certain that this is the ultimate
purpose behind your problem.
And your good! He is sovereignly causing all
things to work together for your good:
Romans 8:28-29 “And
we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose. [And what is the good?] For those whom He foreknew He
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . .
Let this percolate into your mind and down into your heart
until it brings peace and comfort. God has entrusted to you the stewardship of
your situation for the purpose of displaying His glory, and in the process,
transforming you into the image of His Son. His glory, and your good. Wow! Do
you believe this? Do you accept it? Does it bring you joy? Don’t
move on, don’t offer anymore counsel until it does.
“But is it about God’s glory and my good even if my own sin
got me into it?” Does Romans 8:28 have an exception clause for sin? Absolutely
not. If you are a child of God, and even if your sin got you into this mess,
He is sovereignly causing all things to work together for good.
Then turn to this wonderful passage that puts it all
together:
James 1:2-4 Consider
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If this is of God, and for His glory, and my good, then I
choose to be joyful. God is not to be blamed, He is to be thanked and praised.
And then He says—
3.) “I hold you responsible to trust and obey Me in
this situation.”
Now this goes against the grain of our world. Oprah says
it’s not your fault, you’re a victim of abuse or you were spanked as a child or
whatever. God says, “If I have put this situation in your lap, then you are
responsible to trust Me and obey Me, and I will give every spiritual resource
to do so.” You don’t need to make excuses, or shift the blame to anyone or
anything else—look at the log in your own eye, and deal with it—
1 Corinthians 10:13 No
temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; [No,
you’re not the first one to struggle with this] and God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
Now let me tell you how most Christians misunderstand this
passage: It’s not saying that God will always provide a way out of your trial,
a way of escape. It’s saying the opposite: The “way of escape” is through it.
God doesn’t promise to take away your trial but to be with you through it so
that you can endure it! That’s what it means to “escape,” you can escape
sinning in your trial by trusting and obeying. And like the hymn says: “They
who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true.”
And one more thing God says—
4.) “I bless those who trust and obey Me with peace
and joy.”
Do you believe that the blessing of God is better than
anything sin can offer? You can run away from this trial and escape the
pain—you can give into that temptation, and experience the pleasure. But do you
want the blessing of God, or not? I urge you to wrestle with this question
until the answer is yes. The blessing of God comes to those who trust and obey.
Paul had much pain in his life, and once it was so great
that he said this:
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 “Concerning
this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has
said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
What did Paul want? For the pain to stop. And God had all
the power in the universe at His disposal to stop the pain, but He didn’t. He
had no lack of love for Paul as His precious child, but He didn’t take the pain
away. Why? Because He wanted Paul to find something infinitely greater through
the pain—Christ and His all-sufficiency. Circumstances?—unchanged.
Problem?—solved.
The real question is: “Do you want what God wants, and are
you willing to do whatever He says?”
When you settle this you can stop asking “Why,
Lord? Why are You doing this to me?” You already know why: for
His glory and for your Christlikeness, that’s why. So stop “why-ning,”
and just ask “what?” “Lord, what would You have me do in this
situation?”
When you finally say, “Lord, not my will, but Your will be
done,” and “Lord, whatever You tell me to do in Your Word, I will do,” your
circumstances haven’t changed, but your problem is really solved, isn’t it?
