I am NOT a big fan of country music, but my youngest daughter is, and for the past week, more or less, I've been subjected to listening to it from the time I go to bed at night, to the time I get up in the morning. ( Don't get me wrong; I'm not really complaining, because I'm not really losing any sleep over it! ) The phrase that has been going through my head all morning, in this case, is 'what a beautiful mess I'm in'. We can look at this statement in several ways, both gloriously true; first, we could well say, 'wow, what a messed-up situation that we've landed in!', or we could thank God ( since 'Father Knows Best' ) for the messed-up situation that He has blessed us with, and graciously sent our way. ( Sometimes we can figure out why He has 'blessed' us in this certain way, but usually we can only speculate! )
You've most likely heard the phrase often, especially lately, 'it's all in how you look at it', and that's very true, in a sense: perception has a lot to do with how we 'handle' things ( not that things are the way we perceive them to be, for more often than not, our perception is a bit 'skewed'! ) In both 'perceived' situations, for instance; we could look at our situation and 'stress about it, throwing up our hands, saying 'why me?!', even, in some cases ( many? ) getting angry with God ( or yourself ), and taking it out on everyone around us, or we could take a look a our situation, and think 'I'm to blessed to be stressed'; God is just putting me in this situation to test me ( for whatever reason ), or too keep me from a different, maybe worse, or even possibly harmful situation. We often forget, when faced with these situations, that they are, whether we perceive it or not, 'a blessing in disguise'! Anyone who knows me, has figured out by now that my favorite Bible verse ( to quote, anyway ) is Romans 8:28; it reads ( depending on the version, of course ) 'For we know that all things work together for good ( or God works all things for good ) to those who love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose'. 'It's ALL good!' ( another familiar phrase, especially among the 'freer' kind ) We surely, without doubt, are in a beautiful mess; we have been 'blessed' ( most of us ) with a unique situation ( though, in a sense, quite common ), and while we can be sure that it is for our good, it's often hard to see that good ( God ), and not stress about the 'bad' that we do see.
Death, as we know, is a necessary part of life, this human existence, but, depending on how we face it, it can cause us ( as in one case I'm sure some of us are quite familiar with ) to say 'why him, God; he was so young, in the prime of his life ( not to mention with a wife and a couple of kids to support)?', or, as in another situation that you might be familiar with; 'God knows best: it was her time to go' ( but we sure will miss her bodily presence ), and God delivered her ( physically ) from a lifetime of hardship and trials, to what we can only speculate about, except that we know she is still in the Presence of God, but now she can enjoy that Presence without the 'fetters' ( blessings too, don't get me wrong ) of her biological body! We can make the choice, and we often make the wrong one, when something like this happens to us, or one of our loved ones, however near or far, to face it with either one of the above-mentioned attitudes ( or one similar ) and decide within ourselves whether we are going to let it 'stress us out', or whether we are going to let it make us stronger, and bring us peace ( either way; God's purpose will be done in our lives, so we might as well make the best of it, right? )!
I pray that we can all ( me especially ) 'treat' life's many and varied 'situations' this way, and that this gentle reminder will be a blessing to all those who read it!
In the Love and service of our great God and Saviour,
Charles Shank
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