JUN 19

Romans 8:28
Memorise 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“… for our light affliction, which is but for a moment.”

As we have found in earlier readings, serving God will not always be a bed of roses. However, serving God brings blessings, and often these blessings are sweet and exceedingly abundant. However there will be times when things are not easy. Difficult circumstances test our faith and can even tempt us to murmur. These are times when we are called to suffer for Christ. The suffering of saints can come in many forms. There are times when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake. Other times, we may suffer because the circumstances around our lives are beyond our control but nonetheless still within the will of God. Some of us have unbelieving parents that make our Christian walk more difficult. Some of us may come from homes that are not so well off and we struggle just to pay school fees every month. Or perhaps you may feel like you have been serving and following God faithfully and yet you don’t seem to be rewarded for that. You feel discouraged and even tempted to murmur and complain. Is God unfair towards you? You may even be tempted to think “what then is the point of your efforts to walk faithfully?” At such times, we need to exercise faith. Our passage for today tells us that all things work for good. All things that happen to us in life, whether it appears to be good or not, are really all for good. They will ultimately fulfill the glorious purposes of God and although sometimes it seems tough at the moment, we will eventually find that God’s good purposes are good. In fact, we will glorify Him with exceeding joy, as we are told in 1 Peter 4:13: “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy”.

There are, however, some very important qualifiers, which must be fulfilled before this fact holds true. This only applies to those who “love God” and those who are “the called according to his purpose”. In other words, this only applies to believers. All circumstances in the believer’s life are ultimately for his good. We need only to trust that this will be true in our lives. Thus when we understand God’s sovereign providence in our lives, we can give thanks in everything. Every circumstance we face has been divinely appointed by God in accordance to His perfect wisdom, and the only logical response is to thank Him for all that He has done!

Thought: There is a season for everything, even a time for rejoicing.
Prayer: Father, teach me to be always thankful, regardless of suffering.