But think of it a different way...would those movies be anywhere near as exciting if as soon as the bad guy commenced his evil scheme, the good guy comes strolling in and foils the plan? Of course not! There is no suspense in that situation and the heroes true potential is not seen, for he was able to save the day before anything dramatic began to unfold.
Life is not really to far different from this. We are like the damsel in distress and devil is the enemy. The enemy is constantly plotting ways to make us stumble and fall. As we find ourselves in these situations, we began to doubt whether we will make it out, if there is anyone out there that will save the day for us!
The awesome news is...we do have a hero! Jesus Christ our Savior! Time and time again He will come through for us at the vital time. Just like the hero in those action movies, God loves to come through for us in our hour of need and save the day.
There are so many example throughout the Bible where we hear of people who were in the midst of a significant trial, but at the crucial moment God came through for them. A really perfect example is from Daniel 3 where it speaks of "The Image of Gold and the Blazing Furnace". It tells us of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who refused to bow down before King Nebuchadnezzar and as a result the were bound and thrown into a blazing furnace. But when they were thrown inside we hear the following remark from the King in verse 25 -
Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.We see in this verse that at that vital moment, God was there and protected them from the furnace. He saved them! But as I mentioned before, God didnt come in when the three men were standing in front of the King, He came in when all hope looked lost, when it looked like it was game over for the boys! God will come through for us during the storm...not before.
We also learn that God doesn't shy away from the challenge but works miracles for those that love and follow Him. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all loved God and refused to worship the King, and we see that God worked a miracle in their lives.
One of the points that stood out for me when pondering all this was just how much God loves us! God wants to show His amazing love for us, but He cannot do this if we live lives that are without difficulties, trials and pain. You may wish that God prevented anything going wrong in your life, but the reality is we would soon neglect the fact that we are in constant favor and would not fully appreciate how much God truly loves us. Basically, if we dont go through some periods of uncomfortableness, we wouldnt fully appreciate the blessings that God will pour out over our lives.
But some people will still argue this point, that they would appreciate God if the lived lives without trials or troubles. Well think about it like this...when I was in China, the gifts that I gave the children in the Welfare center were very simple, items such as basketballs, coloured pencils and colouring-in books. But with each of those gifts, the children were full of happiness, they were so grateful for each thing! Contrast that with if I was to give those items to you as a present...I think its safe to say that you would think they were all pretty poor, since we are used to living on a different level with higher standards and this means that we expect more.
At the end of the day, it comes down to the point that we are called to trust God and live lives of faith. We have been given the promise that our Lord will be with us no matter what we go through and we can trust in Him. I want to finish with a popular verse that I have used previously and is quite important to me when I go through times of trouble and difficulty.
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.
(Romans 8:28)
1 comment:
This generally agrees with my world view, except I like to think I am the heroine holding back the hoards or defending the castle until the hero returns/or thinking he was already lost.
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