Wednesday, February 20, 2008

A kick in the Teeth.

Pastor Joseph M. Stowell tells a story about his childhood. “Growing up in Hackensack, N.J., just across the George Washington Bridge from New York City, provided a variety of experiences for me. One was going to school with some of the rough kids from the neighboring town of South Hackensack. I recall one afternoon, playfully sparring with one of the southside guys and having his punch actually land on my face. The blow jarred one of my front teeth loose. Thankfully, the dentist was able to anchor the tooth again, and I didn’t lose it. In fact, I was better off--the tooth had always been crooked, so the dentist straightened it as he worked. Sometimes the blows of life have a way of taking something crooked and making it straight.”

picture courtesy images.google.com & illustration courtesy irsweb.com

Romans 8:28-29 (NLT)

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

First of all, please understand that this verse does not mean that everything is going to work out good for followers of Jesus. God doesn't remove all the bad things in life for His children.

It also doesn't mean that everything that happens to us in life is good. We live in a sinful world that is broken, so pain and suffering will often break our hearts.

It does mean that God is in total control of "everything", not just some incidents in life. He will use every circumstance (good or bad from our perspective) to bring about "good" in us (from His perspective). That "good" is all about His purpose for us - to glorify Him as we become more and more like Jesus Christ who created His new life in us! God's ultimate purpose is to make us Holy, not happy.

We can still be full of joy even when we're not happy. Happiness depends on how we feel about circumstances, but joy is the peace in our souls that comes with knowing and believing that God is working to bring about the "good" that He wants for us.

So when life "knocks your tooth out", trust God! He will eventually straighten out what seems crooked in this life.