Don’t you love how, if you will allow Him, God will use all things as teaching moments for us in our life? The key considerations here are: 1), do I allow Him; and 2) am I teachable?
“8 He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them. 9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.” 10 Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.” Luke 21:8-11
I am guilty of being upset, concerned, stressed, confused at all that is happening around me. Being disillusioned by the events occurring both domestically and internationally. Desiring to lash out at those that I disagree with, using my ‘vote,’ my righteous indignation to protest and change all that is wrong occurring around me. Hmm, then that pesky verse Matthew 7:5 shows up: “You hypocrite! First, remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” WEB translation.
So as I rant, lose valuable time, sacrifice my energy at the alter of “I can change things” clearly outlined as ‘to come’ in the Bible. My Father in Heaven is saying to me, “do you trust me? Do you have faith in me in all things? Is your relationship with me conditional, based upon the status of the temporal things of this Earth? Myron, do you believe all that I had written as a guidepost for your life and the source of outlining what must and is to come?”
So, He is saying to me. Myron, …”Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to be will be condemned.” Mark 16: 15-16 NLT (As a side note, I love who God speaks directly to me and I interpret this to affirm that I am counted among His favorites. A guy can dream and if you dream, dream big.)
The hard question that I continually struggle with is “do my actions and does my life reflect what Jesus and the Father foretold in the guiding book of my life?” Does my complaining, accusing, worrying, self-righteous indignation reflect the Gospel and what my life as a Believer is instructed to represent? Does my reflection mirror a man pursuing righteousness and presenting the hope of the Savior?
I choose hope in Him. I choose joy in all things. I choose to believe and accept all things occurring are foretold and must occur for me to be one day closer to my Father in Heaven for eternity. I choose to love and pray for those that I disagree with, recognizing that they are equally created by the Creator of all things, needing His love as I need His love. I choose to believe more strongly than ever in the deity of God and the power of our petitions to Him in prayer. I believe.
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 NASB
Let’s go!