My Devotional Time with God
A Crisis Or An Opportunity?O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!Romans 11:33
Events and circumstances that seem to be disastrous may only be new avenues to experiencing God's perfect will for us. As we read in Romans 5:1-8:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ is our victory! And we can be encouraged by the many examples that we have of God's love and protection throughout His Word. One such illustration is God's servant, Job. He was a man who, by human standards, was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and hated evil (Job 1:1). Job was also very wealthy and prosperous, and was even considered in his time to be the greatest of all the men of the east (vs.3). Yet, God put him through an extremely severe testing program in which everything, including his children, were taken away from him. He was left empty – and everyone around him, including his wife, saw it as a tragedy, and not as an opportunity. She said in Job 2:9: "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die." But God's perfect will was at hand, and Job passed the test, and "the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12).
If we can trust the Lord through our adversities, God can give us the wisdom to have the ability to see the possibilities in a given situation, and focus our attention on the opportunities. We face the challenge of making God's exciting and perfect will come true in our lives.
Things begin to change when we open ourselves up to the possibilities God can see that we can't – and entrust ourselves to His paths, beyond ours, as we are told in Isaiah 55:8:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Trusting God doesn't spare us from making poor decisions or experiencing crises – being fired from a job, having financial reversal, falling victim to an illness or injury. Yet, when we approach a difficult experience seeking an opportunity for spiritual growth and an opportunity to find God's will, we can expect to emerge triumphant. Bruised, battered, and sadder-but-wiser, perhaps, but triumphant.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father – Help me to see the possibilities in the events and circumstances that surround me today. Let me view crises as new opportunities from You – opportunities to grow and to experience the perfection of Your will. Amen.
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