This is a post close to my heart. I think I am stating the obvious when I state 'Not everything will work out as you want it to in life'.
Last night with PCY we had our 'Lock In', where we sleepover at a random Church, play games, learn from the Bible and maybe sleep if we're lucky, and not everything worked out as I had hoped.
I don't want to go into details but we had issues with some of the young people which have been dealt with.
This is my hope in that situation.
That this will be a Romans 8:28 Moment!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
I can remember Romans 8:28 moments in my life, where things have not gone as planned and even gone horribly wrong leading to much distress. I can honestly say that these times as Christians turn out to be such a joy. Why? Because even though God doesn't plan for bad things to happen (He gives us free will and some use it to make bad things happen) He will make GOOD things come out of it.
I can remember a time in my life where I was really upset and I can say that God was so close to me at that time and helped me grow in my faith so much. I also met some lifelong friends who were going through the same thing. I honestly now am glad it happened. I see many times in my life where I was wrong and God was right and am I glad He made sure His Will was done and not mine!
My prayer is that we all make our bad moments into Romans 8:28 moments and let God work through it :-) Let Him bring us closer to Him and make us more like Him, filling us with His peace, joy and Holy Spirit. Nothing beats that ;-)
Last year as part of an assignment I had to run a 'learning experience'. I worked so hard on it and then it all went really horribly wrong! There was a very upsetting problem with a child and it was because of my mistake. I had to write an assignment on it and I practically cried the whole time I was writing it. I did really well in the assignment, I got a first for it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is because I had spend time really reflecting on it and whole lot of work trying to God in it. Sometimes attempting to discover God's work is the biggest struggle we face but also a time when we find things that are real, lasting and strengthening. It takes a lot of courage to be a Christian.
This is a great post Mike, great, truthful message.
xx