Reflecting on God's purposes for our weaknesses beyond our understanding...
"My migraines [painful trials] weren’t all about me! God used them to accomplish His good will in
many lives and in various ways. This
affliction never seemed like a good idea to me, but His perfect will had
appointed otherwise. He gradually gave
me more grace to submit to His will and believe He is kinder and wiser than I
could ever be. I began to learn and
believe that this was His loving will for me, not His mean or vindictive will.
"If decreasing the total number of sins that I committed were
God’s primary objective, then He would have kept me out of the wilderness. However, He led me into the wilderness to
reveal my sin to me because seeing my sin is good for me and brings Him
glory. It is good for us to see our sin,
because when we do, our Savior becomes dearer to us. When we are standing tall and strong we do
not tend to look at Christ—we don’t need Him.
But when we fall flat on our faces, overcome with sin and weakness,
there is nowhere elseto look but to the One who has died our death and lived
the life we should have lived. God loves
broken and contrite hearts, and we don’t acquire those by living the victorious
Christian life.
"It is precisely within the context of all this weakness and
sin that our God invites us to lean upon His mighty arm and promises to guide
us with unsleeping eyes and a loving heart.
He says to us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am
your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10).
However, that strengthening isn’t always strength for obedience;
sometimes it is the more remarkable power to survive our weakness and worship
Christ more joyfully because of it. Our
God goes straight before us, and at His powerful Word, crooked things become
straight and light shines into darkness.
In all our failures and sin, God’s promises to His children stand steady
and true: He will be our sun, our shield, and our very great reward (Ps.
84:11)."
--excerpted from Barbara Duguid, Extravagant
Grace
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