Paige Benton spells it out: “If he fluctuated one quark in his goodness, he would cease to be God....I am single because God is so abundantly good to me, because that is his best for me. It is
a cosmic impossibility that anything could be better for me right now than being
single.”
Okay, now I know that all of you who read this blog are not single. I would venture to say that the vast majority of you who graciously stop by to read my thoughts for the day are, in fact, married or in serious relationships.
So, why would I post this quote?
Because, when I read this quote it struck me how infrequently this is the response we have as Christians to situations we desire to change in our lives.
Not happy in your job?
Unsatisfied or frustrated in the ministry God has called you to?
Disgruntled by a relationship He has introduced into your life?
Longing for clarity as far as your future is concerned, and the list goes on and on.
Most often when we are faced with situations we don't understand, we ask questions. We seek prayer for change of those situations in our lives. Or worse, we take matters into our own hands.
But how often do we find ourselves thinking, "I am in this place in my life because God is so abudantly good to me, that this is His best for me?"
I am still trying to wrap my head around this concept.
How does this concept apply when we are in the midst of situation that is the result of our sin? Or does it? And if not, how do we determine the difference?
3 comments:
I don't know how I missed this blog entry, but I was just scrolling down thru your entries and saw it today. Wow--thanks for the punch in the gut, Ash. I love having friends in my life that challenge me in my faith and in my walk with Christ. Thank you for always speaking truth.
Well Miss Cara, you probably missed this because I had it saved in my draft folder for a while with just the quote. I have been struggling with how to make this mindset fit in with my understanding of all of God's Word.... what does this mean when I am in a situation that is the result of my own sin? Any thoughts....
I wrote a long and brilliant comment that was eaten by a server or something, so I'm going to try and recreate it.
Ashlee, I think you've hit it exactly - when we are in situations that are caused by our own sin, that is God's best for us for a couple of reasons. First of all, the earthly consequences for our sin are God's best for us because it gives us the opportunity to do something about that sin. If we are not aware of or never suffer because of our sins, it's not likely that we're ever going to do anything about them. I would argue that part of God's best for each of us is to become more holy, which is obviously not possible if we're either not aware of sins or if we never have to do anything about them.
Secondly, it is decidedly God's best for us to deal with the earthly consequences of our sins because our other option is to deal with the eternal consequences of our sins. God has given us His best when it comes to our sins, which makes me wonder if the answer to any question that can be posed from that quote is "Jesus." I'm also wondering about any Scripture that quote can be based on...I'll get around to looking it up, but are there any off the top of your head (collectively)?
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