‘…Are you in health, my brother?’ 2 Samuel 20:9 NKJV
Never allow life’s disappointments to make you cynical. If you live long enough people will disappoint you, including your family. Even spiritual leaders will let you down! Paul wrote: ‘We wanted to come to you-even I, Paul, time and again-but Satan hindered us.’ (1 Thessalonians 2:18 NKJV) Did you think Satan was going to send you a congratulatory card because you decided to serve the Lord? Not a chance! The walk of faith is one of delight-and difficulty. When you signed on for the first, you signed on for the second. Paul was on a sixteen-month missionary journey-one of miracles and church-building. But he ended up in prison on trumped-up charges and was left to rot there. How did he respond? ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4 NKJV) You say, ‘How can somebody rejoice in prison?’ When you see your disappointment as God’s appointment, you start to understand its purpose. Paul had books to write that would change the world, so God needed to get him ‘off the road’. Listen to what he wrote from prison: ‘I want you to know…that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.’ (Philippians 1:12-14 NLT) Hidden in some of your biggest disappointments, you will find treasures of truth that literally transform your life and your future.
SoulFood: Ezek 14:1-6:52, Luke 2:1-7, Ps 144:1-8,Pr 14:1-4
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2012
