Thursday, August 10, 2006

God Meant it for Good

Hi guys, Fred here.

A lady I knew well used to write a weekly column for her local paper under the heading “Just a Moment”. She had been at it for thirteen years when she produced the following devotion:

Just a moment
Some time ago Joe applied for an insurance policy for accidents. In the interview the agent asked him if he had ever had an accident. The man thought for a moment and said, “Nooo, but a horse kicked me in the ribs, and another time a snake bit me”. “Wouldn’t you call those accidents?” replied the agent. “Nooo”, said Joe “they did it on purpose”.
That may be an amusing story, but the truth of the Bible remains, that there are no accidents in the lives of God’s children. In today’s Bible verse, Joseph interpreted a dreadfully trying time in his life as a great test of his faith, and from the human standpoint it appeared to be a case of injustice and not a blessing at all. But Joseph learned that God had planned the whole experience.
Maybe you are having a time of great hardship in one way or another. Maybe your children have done the wrong thing to you, or you have suffered an accident and feeling absolutely miserable. Sometimes those trials are for a special blessing. Be patient, and trust God. Even try to praise him for the trial. It may be the hardest thing to do that you have done for quite a while, but it will work, and God will transform your trial into a blessing. “God meant it for good” (Gen 50: 20).

On the very day this item appeared in the local rag, her husband of 36 years was killed in a road accident!

That news rattled my cage, so to speak. I knew it brought a devastation to her as she entered deep into grief and its attendant disharmony. But she hung on! She hung in. She continued to write! – as far as I know until she died. In faith!

“Commit your way to the Lord – Psalm 37

As another lady once said, reflecting on her years in the German concentration camp “it was in the camp that I discovered God and was able to anchor my faith in him”.

Bless Ya,

- Pastor Fred

Just a reminder, that you are free to use this material, send it on to anyone else, and your comments are welcome.

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