Today’s devotional is a rewrite from November 2020. The year of a pandemic. The year fear of the unknown encapsulated our world. It was a time when we all should have come to grips with the reality that our God is the only thing that we can place our confidence in. I hope as you read this you can sense the peace and the gratitude that was in my heart. This gratitude for such an awesome God cannot be understood by those who have not surrendered their lives to Him, but for those who have, I pray it is a reminder of who we serve, that He is in control, and works all things or our good. Let me remind you as I have in other devotionals, that our “good” is for us to be conformed to His dear Son. In some situations, as it will be for each of us one day, that good will be a physical death. This is when the Christian will be most like Jesus. We will then be perfect. That is what we are taught in Romans 8:28-29. Our lives are to be about Him no matter what circumstances come our way.
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
When I wrote this I was sitting in a hospital bed with COVID. My first thought was “Don’t panic I’m going to be ok.” I was so clearly reminded of what a great God I serve. No matter where I am He is there. If I go to sleep he’s there, on the mountain, or in the valley, He is there. It reminds me of Psalm 139, where the psalmist is assured God is always there.
Psalm 139:7-12 “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.”
When you are a child of the King there is never a reason to fear. He loves us and only wants what is best for us. His love for us is greater than any other love and the strength we gain from that can’t be explained.
Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we are sick or troubles seem overwhelming, it’s easy to let our thoughts turn inward and our focus becomes “usward” instead of “upward.”
We must keep our focus on Christ and eternity if we are to fully enjoy all that God has for us. There is nothing we can go through that he can’t handle. There is no suffering that can compare to the joy we shall receive. One day we will see clearly, but for now, keep on rejoicing! Today I’m extremely grateful for all I have in Christ.
Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Now that we are on the other side of the pandemic we should be even more grateful. With a thankful heart, we are to praise Him. Yet, I still hear people grumbling and complaining about the things that happened during that time. If you are one of those stop it, get on your knees, and seek forgiveness for a heart that looks at the circumstances instead of the God in control.
Excellent. So True. I love you.