"The Question" - A Devotional for Tuesday

Matthew 5:3-4,6,10 (TM): “You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule. You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you...You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat....You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.”

I talk to so many people that ask me the same question: "Pastor, why am I going through this? Have I made God angry with me? Am I being punished for something that I've done?" Challenging situations...financial ruin...relational collapse...emotional train wrecks... I've seen (and experienced) many of these. If this is you this morning, I have happy news...you have a choice.

I don't mean that you have a choice in your circumstances...many of us don't. Life happens and we are tied to the consequences of our choices directly. However, you get to choose your reactions to these events...should you grow bitter and never trust again? How about jaded and skeptical about the presence of God? C'mon let's get honest...have you ever doubted He's there?

I have

But time and time again...God reaches down and pulls me back up. I am allowed to go to the bottom...because the only place to look is up. Toward God. Towards hope. Towards happiness.

Want to live a happy life? Start today. Commit yourself to looking to God when you feel driven down, starving, beat up, forgotten, ignored, hurt, or just plain lonely. We get to choose our perspective...you can either focus on the end of the rope...or the beginning of hope. Remember that God is ALWAYS there...no matter how we feel...no matter how we are treated...no matter what we are facing...He is there. We can't do it all. We don't need to do it all.

Hang on. Stay faithful. Never give up hope. Sometimes the crisis that we are in is exactly what we need. Does that sound strange? Remember...

Less of us means more of God. Our weakness...His strength.

Feast in His power and glory...Accept His warm embrace...Trust Him...You'll be much happier...and much closer to peace.

Pastor Brian