Afriad?

Over the last several months I have had many times that by all logic and all rights I should have been afraid. Yet things were coming so fast and with such extreme drama, that I did not stop long enough to take it all in. Even though I was personally dealing with life and death physically and spiritually, it was coming so fast that I could hardly get a breath. Sleep was something that I only had a very fond memory of and taking a day to just get away from it all seem impractical, if not impossible. The emotions were overwhelming. Sights and sounds and smells that pulled me back to the most difficult moments of the recent past just would not go away. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing and a mammoth sense of responsibility laying heavy on my chest. The events were most personal. Ministry is not done in a vacuum or at a distance. It is always “in your face” and the emotions of any one moment can defeat anyone focused only on the moment. I deliver these thoughts to you understanding that most of you are not pastors, but understanding fully that every Christian is in ministry and if you carry the Name of Christ and you take your ministry seriously, you will at times find yourself in this same hollow place. Remember that God has entrusted you with it and He is your strength.

It is at times like these that other Christians seem to throw Romans 8:28 in your face. It is also in these times most of us on the other end of the equation least want to hear it and can see no practical application of it.

“All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” It seems like a simple statement, full of encouragement and promise, but in the midst of real pain, it can seem like a particularly callus statement by one who is obviously far removed from the fray.

As one currently in the middle of that fray, where all things seem just devastating, let me assure you who are hurting: “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”

The reason that I can say that to you with such confidence is that I have been on this side of impossible before!

If you, like me, are in the center of the storm, and you have been a Christian for awhile, you can look back at your personal history with God to find the principle of His faithfulness, made real in your life. If you are a new Christian, be assured that in your perseverance you too will one day have these benchmarks to look back on.

But the promise is not to everyone! Specifically it is not for those who love Him less than anything in life. Note too, that Romans does not say that all things are good in the Christian’s life. It rather says that all things ‘work together’ for good.

Recently I got up after a totally sleepless night, took a serious look at my life and its circumstances, the hurts and pain that the ministry seemed to require, and read that Scripture again and had to ask myself: ‘do you really love the Lord’? After some hours of introspection and prayer, I once again was assured in my own spirit (Romans 8:16) that this ministry really is His and that my love for Him is genuinely my motivation. I can honestly say this without the slightest pride, because I have, at times in my life reached the opposite conclusion – that I was doing it for me and that my pain had no promise of ‘good’ in it.

Do you really love the Lord? If so, be comforted in His promise. He loves you, and in His sovereignty has the very best for you! …whether we recognize it or not.