It's really not all about you

As Christians, we go through many things in the course of our journey here. It's never easy. We have many scriptures that encourage us to endure and to see things from God's perspective. We are told that He loves us and has our best interest at heart, and we believe that until it is tested.

I have come to the realization that there are many things that we will never understand in this life. God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He can be unorthodox in His ways of handling us and situations involving us. 

Humans can only see what they can see, which isn't much. We try to figure out why something happened the way it happened. We use earthly means to come to conclusions about God and how He deals. I'm here to tell you that often, we are so far off the mark. We will never know why God does what He does in the way that He does it. But what we can know is where we fit into the great scheme of things. 

God uses our situations, trials and challenges for more than we know. His special work involves us, but it's not really all about us. It is so much bigger than we'll ever know. That is why it is so important to endure what He sends your way. The blessing will be yours in the end. 

The enemy has his part to play as well. All the players are at the table, but God orchestrates and directs the movements of all involved. Just think about Job. Look at the whirlwind of troubles, crisis and tragedy that engulfed his entire family. The losses were incredible and the pain phenomenal. He had no idea what God was doing. All He could see were the chain of events around him breaking him and bringing him to his knees. By the time we get to Job chapter 42, we see how his spiritual eyes have been opened and enlightened and the tremendous blessings that followed. In Genesis 41, Joseph's ordeal in prison is over and he is now governor of Egypt and the king's right-hand man, but Joseph had to endure cruelty from the hands of his brethren, lied on for doing the right thing and thrown into prison. Suffering is never easy, but for the believer it is inevitable.

We can see that the trials of these two men, Job and Joseph, were bigger than anything they could have imagined. God had a grand purpose in all He allowed. Lives were impacted by their ability to endure and not curse God. Lives were saved and spared because Joseph endured his circumstances. In Job's Day, all the people who knew him made judgement calls on why he was in the situation he was in. He was looked down upon and scorned by some. His own extended family stayed away from him. Those he once helped in their time of trouble, turned from him in his hour of need. What suffering! When God got through and delivered Job and his wife, the entire community was stunned, some no doubt was made to be ashamed, while others were in shock. They all got to see a bigger plan to it all. In the end God was glorified. God had something to say about the 'Nay Sayers' too!

So, the next time you are in a trial, a crisis, a sudden turn of events that scare the pants off of you, remember, it may involve you, but it is so much bigger than you. Pray for Grace, you'll need it. Pray for the strength to endure. Hold on to God's unchanging hand and watch Him bring you through! Get your blessing!