Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John Piper
Pray for the Strength to Find the Blessing Behind Every Challenge
Are bad things happening in your life right now?
Do you feel a lot of anxiety or even fearfulness? Do you feel that your life seems like an endless series of challenges? Have you been tempted to ask ‘Where are you, God?’ as you think about the challenges going on in your world? If any of these apply to you, you are hardly alone. Every Christian goes through these. Where Christians differ, however, is on how they understand God’s role in the challenges they are going through. It is too easy to fall into the erroneous thinking that God sometimes does bad things mixed in with good things. The reality of the Bible begs to differ.
God is Always Good
God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. This is not just a trite saying you often hear at the beginning of a sermon, it is the solid truth. God is always good and He is always doing good. The problem is that too many of us just see all the things going wrong and we lose focus on the things going well. For example, before you got home to sit at your desk and worry about your money problems, chances are there wasn’t an earthquake that swallowed your car on your way back home from work. We tend to focus on the things that are going wrong instead of the many more things that went right. God is always doing good. And, as John Piper notes, God’s blessings and grace operate in such a way that, while we may only see the challenges in front of us, God is actively working to get more good in place.
God is Always Good But We Will Still Have Challenges
Interestingly enough, the main thing God is shifting around is our perspective. When we change how we look at things, challenges go away. When we resolve to learn what we need to learn, we become less frustrated. In fact, instead of feeling weighed down and burdened, a change of point of view often leads to a great sense of possibility and freedom. In many cases, God doesn’t make our challenges go away because the greater good is the character change and the changed perspective the challenges help bring about. Understand that God is always doing good. Often, the very best he could give us is a changed perspective. What challenges are you facing? How can a changed point of view help you deal with or even overcome your challenges? Are you willing to pray for God’s blessings and grace in changing your point of view?
