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Wednesday 4 September 2013

Life isn't fair, but God is GOOD!



When I first became a Christian, I had this notion that my life would suddenly start running smoothly, as if God was some kind of wizard who would now wave a wand to fix all my problems and make me detour every bump in the road.   Even the church I was going to at the time preached that problems and diseases were ‘not my portion’, so I prayed fervently, rebuking Satan and soon began feeling like a failure as a Christian when my problems persisted.  

Thankfully, God soon taught me that even as Christian, life would not always be fair, but that in every difficult situation, He would give me the strength, the wisdom and the peace to see me through it.  I’ve also learnt that regardless of why God allows certain problems in our lives, they can and should always give us the opportunity to grow through them and be the catalyst in improving our attitudes and purifying our hearts.

The truth is that we live in a fallen world, where there are consequences for every action and unfortunately, bad things do still happen to us, even when we are praying for them not to…
However, in saying that, I do still believe that God does protect us from a lot of stuff and when we are tuned into the Holy Spirit, and seeking His wisdom, we can avoid a lot of unnecessary troubles.

The goodness of God is always present, no matter how dire the situation.  My greatest lesson has been to discover that as I face each new problem, I am able to react to them better, as I mature in my faith.  The success comes from how we handle our problems and what we are praying for during them and knowing that despite life’s bumps in the road, our faith can still remain steadfast in the midst of them. 

God's Hidden Treasures



 God has taught me that no matter how difficult life can be, there are always hidden treasures to discover, if we will just lift our heads, and open our eyes and ears to find them!  I cannot tell you how often a singing bird will appear when I am feeling down, or I find a coin on the ground when I’m feeling concerned about the finances.  

I like to think that God uses these hidden treasures to help encourage us when He knows we need it and to remind us that He cares for us.  Some may call these convenient coincidences, but for me, God’s timing is always too perfect to be considered that.

What I have learnt is that when we are not observant enough, we so often miss these treasures that God wants to share with us.  When we become so obsessed with ourselves and our problems, we lose sight of things like sunrises, sunsets and rainbows, those very treasures designed to lift our hope and make us smile.

So no matter what struggles you are going through today, be sure to seek out God’s little treasure surprises and I promise you, you will not be disappointed!

Truth is like a Mountain




 

Having recently reunited with someone from my past and trying to make sense of a difficult chapter in my life, I’ve come to learn that the truth of what happened is sometimes relative to a person’s perspective and memory.  

I believe that very often we embrace a certain version of the truth that makes it easier for us to live with.  The thing about ‘truth’ is that it has so many different versions and in reality, only God can see it from all angles. I like to think that truth is like a mountain and depending on what part of the mountain we can see, it is what we accept to be the truth.  Maybe that’s what has happened with all the different denominations of interpreting the Bible in their own way…  It is all the same truth, just a different angle of it. 

The Bible tells us that the truth will set us free, and I believe that’s true, but I’ve also learnt that when it comes to God’s truth, it’s the condition of our heart’s soil that determines the interpretation. And when it comes to the truth told by a person, we have to accept what they tell us at face value, because no matter how difficult it is to understand sometimes, people don’t always behave the way we expect them to and sometimes the assumed stories we make up in our mind can be very far from the truth.

Instead, let us trust God to be the judge of what is the honest truth and when it’s not, then all we can do is pray that the person’s own conscious will convict them…