God Means All For Good
We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or we can rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. —Abraham LincolnAnd we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. — Romans 8:28Myles likes to joke about my penchant for the positive. He tells people, “If we each had a bumper sticker, Katharine’s would read ‘Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm’ and mine would read, ‘Orwell was an optimist!’” This has made our love adventure full of clashing viewpoints that require us to depend for sound wisdom on the Daysman—Yeshua and His advocate, the Holy Spirit. (“daysman” means “mediator” Job 9:33 (KJV)) Our mutual love for Yeshua and each other overcomes our conflicts.
God is THE positive force in the world
Good news for you reading this article: I am right! God is THE positive force in the world. He is love. He is King—and a benign one at that. That is why I choose to see this earthly life through the lens of faith as it is revealed through His Word.Way back in our younger years, before Myles received his Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling, he and I attended Bible college, which included a very intensive track in family counseling. One of the foundational precepts we aspiring counselors heard repeated: Life Must Have Meaning—There Must Be Hope For Change. The source for this powerful call is the Lord Himself, speaking through the Scriptures that are enlivened by the Holy Spirit. This worldview elevates the destiny of humans. We Believers need to help others see that they have a future in God.In order to press forward in the face of adversity, we MUST believe that God can change things (us!) and rearrange circumstances if necessary. Once we accept the overview of calling and destiny, we can see our immediate difficulties in the light of a bigger, more positive picture.The general call is for good things to come to His people:For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. — Jeremiah 29:11The specifics unfold before each person as they seek Him:For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? —Esther 4:14When we think of our life as a calling—a meaningful journey accented by God’s grace—we can see through the pain of temporal (earthly) issues. A pastor friend recently reminded Believers that we are not to be like mirrors reflecting this world. We are to shine our light into this world. Our Light source is the Lamb of God—the Lion of Judah. Such radiance explains the courage of the past:Ruth in famineDaniel in the lions’ denJoseph in prisonPaul …well……five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. —2 Corinthians 11:24–28No matter what lies before you, look around; His angels are with you, and He is calling you. Keep looking up!