I’ve been in a pretty dark place for the last two months. There have just been so many issues, so many things happening, so many upsetting circumstances, so many sad moments. Don’t get me wrong; I believe it all happens for a reason, but it can be very difficult to remain positive and uplifting when everything around you is crumbling.
Slowly but surely, it feels like things are starting to brighten up again. Sort of like what happens when spring really hits and little flowers burst out along the lines of the dead branches of trees. It’s that little reminder that life goes on and everything has a purpose and God has a plan.
But that’s not to say the difficult times won’t come again. On the contrary, with the world in the state that it’s in, dark moments seem to hover constantly, just waiting for the opportune moment to drop on all of us. And on those days, I need more than a few happy little flowers to brighten my perspective.
Apricot blossoms – Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS
Today’s verses are Romans 11:33-36.
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.
If you have a moment, you really should read all of Romans 11. One of the things I love about Paul is that he references existing Scripture, and Romans 11 is a great example of how the Old Testament and the New Testament complete each other. Just in this passage alone, Paul quotes both Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11.
Can we really know what God is thinking? Can we really grasp what He’s doing?
Well, to a certain extent, I think we can understand His motivation. If you are a follower of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you. So you have direct access to God, which gives you an inside track to what God is planning (as long as you’re listening, mind you). But even if you can understand God’s motivation, I don’t think we can ever grasp the fullness of what God is doing in our lives. Because even though we’ve been made right with God, we are still human. We’re still flawed. We’re still limited. And God isn’t any of those things, and many times His decisions won’t make sense to us. So we just have to trust His heart.
If you think you know enough about what God is planning to tell Him what’s what, I’ll leave that up to you. But I can tell you that I don’t know enough to be giving God advice. I don’t know enough to be giving anyone advice. That’s why this blog is all about the Bible instead of just what I think about the world in general.
And even though I feel like I’ve sacrificed a lot for God, I haven’t given Him nearly anything in comparison to what He’s given me. So I don’t dare get into the mindset that God owes me anything. How could I even think that when He’s done so much for me?
For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.
Can any one of us claim something like that? No.
I get so wrapped up in my daily life that I forget what really matters. I get so discouraged by my failures and my flaws. I get so disappointed by people and the way they treat each other. But here’s the deal, guys: That’s life.
Our lives are broken. Stuff happens. And God is bigger than any of it. He’s big enough to take all that bad stuff and turn it into something beautiful. Because it’s all for His glory anyway. And that’s why we live: for His glory.
So don’t let the darkness of this world get you down. And don’t let the shortcomings of people around you make you doubt that God is working. (If nothing else, that should be a confirmation of it.) And if you need more than a few cheery flowers to help you remember that God has everything under control when your world is spinning, remember why we’re here.
We’re here to praise Him. We’re here to acknowledge that He is the One who matters, that He made everything, that He will be until time doesn’t exist anymore. Earth is just a stepping stone, a temporary stop on the road. And when our time here is done, we’ll all move on to something else.
Always Peachy 