God’s better plan often involves pain and suffering because it’s through the fires that we obtain genuine faith. I was in a Bible study this past week where a friend of mine asked, “How can God’s better plan for our lives involve something that can seem so clearly bad?” which eventually led to, “How do we obtain that strong and genuine faith that the believers in the Bible had?” I mean what a fair question. How can these things that we have been told for forever be true all the time, even in the worst situations? Where is God’s goodness in the midst of the storm? How do we get to the point of being able to say “and if not, He is still good” and really mean it? So, let’s start at the beginning: where we first heard these statements. “God is good, all the time. All the time, He is good.” “He is good even when our situations are not.” “His plan for your life is better than your own.” When you grow up in church, you hear these phrases repeated in different words over and over so much so that it becomes common knowledge, and it’s easy to become numb to its strength. When you start to become numb, you start to grow skeptical. How can God be good, always? How can He be good when He is allowing me to walk through this trial in my life? How can His better plan involve so much hurt and pain? And if not He is still good comes from Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are about to be thrown into a burning furnace that has already killed the guards who were told to guard it. King Nebuchadnezzar gives the three young men one last chance to bow to him to save themselves from their fate. But instead of bowing, they respond with a bold proclamation of faith. “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” These men knew that God’s plan was good. That if they were to die for their faith right then, He would still be good. That if they were to be rescued right then, He would still be good. God’s goodness is not dependent on our situations, but it does shine through them. He did rescue those men. As a result, Nebuchadnezzar put his faith in God, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were given a high position in Babylon. God was good to His faithful servants: He didn’t abandon them, He didn’t leave them out to dry. He shined through their circumstances and did more than any thought were possible. God uses our trials to strengthen us, but also to further His kingdom. He does nothing without intention. I don’t know what trial you are going through or what is causing you to doubt God’s goodness in your life, but I do know that God is good. He is shining through your circumstances, and He will redeem you. “You don’t have to look as bold as a lion to live as bold as a lion.” You are already stronger than you were a year ago, you have already come so far since this time a year ago, and every situation you thought you would never survive-- you did. Keep your eye on Christ, because He is good, even when life is not. When we see these young men being able to stare into the face of death and with such strength be able to stand by God, we wonder how we can get such a bold faith. How do we get to a place of being able to lift our hands and praise God in the middle of the storm? How do we trust that the storm is part of His better plan for our lives? Where does that faith come from? We do not get this faith through our own efforts. We cannot sing enough worship songs, read enough books, or do enough good deeds to have this incredible amount of faith. It’s a gift that comes from God. A gift that doesn’t come in a pretty package with a perfect life tied together in a bow. It comes from a lot of tears, a lot of battles between our flesh and our faith, a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, and you bet a lot of moments where we start to doubt God. You can’t go to battle without the proper training. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had already been challenged and tested with their faith before they made their bold statement. They had been taken from their home in Judah and forced to go to Babylon where they were stripped of everything they knew and even given new names. Just like anything else in life, you have to learn and be challenged to become strong in any pursuit. God’s better plan often involves pain and suffering because it’s through the fires that we obtain genuine faith. In 1 Peter 1:6-7, Peter says exactly that. “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 God’s goodness is not dependent on us. He was good when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thought they were going to die, He is good when we feel like the world is falling apart around us, and He will be good regardless of what our future holds. If we can find and believe that He is good regardless of what trial we are walking through, He’ll see us through it. And on the other side of a lot of tearful prayers, is an unbreakable faith. That’s a promise. Because both Jesus and Peter knew that it’s not easy to walk through fire, but when you set your eyes upon the finish line, it’ll all be worth it. “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9
1 Comment
Grace Kim
4/9/2019 02:01:12 pm
Thank you so much for this
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