Tag: security

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Christian Living

Oops, I Took A Wrong Turn! Now What?

We’ve all done it…
Taken that wrong turn…
And some people have found that wrong turn to be a costly mistake…

a car that took a wrong turn into a lake
photo credit: www.komu.com/news/car-slides-off-roadway-into-lake/

Sometimes we feel as if we taken the wrong turn not just with our car, but with our entire life. We look back on the past and and we think, “Boy, did I choose the wrong way.” And we might even wonder if life has been permanently damaged because of that choice. If you feel that way, I have great news for you…

      If I found I had driven into a bog, I should know I had missed the road. But this knowledge would not be of much comfort if I then had to stand helpless watching the car sink and vanish; the damage would be done, and that would be that. Is it the same when a Christian wakes up to the fact that he has missed God’s guidance and taken the wrong way? Is the damage irrevocable? Must he now be put off course for life?
      Thank God, no. Our God is a God who not merely restores, but takes up our mistakes and follies into His plan for us and brings good out of them.
      This is part of the wonder of His gracious sovereignty…. The Jesus who restored Peter after his denial and corrected his course more than once after that, is our Savior today and He has not changed….
      Guidance, like all God’s acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us His way, that we may tread it; He wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God’s promise; this is how good He is.
      Thus it appears that the right context for discussing guidance is one of confidence in the God who will not let us ruin our souls.
      Our concern, therefore, in this discussion should be more for His glory than for our security — for that is already taken care of.

Isn’t that a beautiful description of how good God is to us. That if we have chosen Jesus as Savior and Lord, then no matter if we slip, we know that His arms are beneath us and that we will not ruin our souls. Our security in Him has been established already, so let us live for His glory!

        (Quotes in today’s post are from Knowing God by J. I. Packer)


Categories
Christian Living

Defining The Word “Good”

All of us want to define the word “good” such that we get our way. But what happens when something that pleases me dictates that something unpleasant happens to you? Can we still call something good if it is not good for us both?

And how does that work with God? God says He is always working for the good of those who love Him. But we want comfort and peace and security and happiness – no pain, no struggle. God wants the advancement of His Kingdom. He wants His Name to be glorified.

“Men always view with suspicion people who are different. Conformity, not distinctiveness, is the way to a trouble-free life. So…simply by living according to the teachings of Jesus, the Christian is a constant unspoken condemnation of the secular lifestyle.” (Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)

If living to exalt Him might cause me to be condemned or criticized, then at times, my desire for comfort will be at odds with His desire for being exalted. So who gets to define the word “good”?

We find that exalting God can often cause difficulty in life – which is the opposite of my comfort and security. So how can these two goals that are at odds with each other – my comfort, security, and happiness vs. God’s glory – be determined that God is always working for my good?

Remember that God is not going to give us every one of our heart’s desires until every one of our hearts desires are exactly in line with His will.

If we truly can be like Paul and see that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” and “that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness,” then whatever God sends us we can say – God use this to advance Your goals and Your kingdom because I want the things that You want and I know that whatever You send me can be used to bring you more praise. Even physical illness or a handicap or a loss of material possessions or even loss of life – all of these can be used for the advancement of God’s kingdom and for bringing glory to Him. But will we trust Him that His plans are always the best plans? When His kingdom plans conflict with our plans for security and peace and happiness, will we continue to have faith in Him and be able to see that the increase of His kingdom, even if it causes suffering in us, is best for everyone and is therefore for our good as well?

“The man who really loves God can do as he chooses, for if he really loves God he will choose to do the will of God.” (Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)