Laughing Jesus by Robert Wilson, Sr.
Our senior pastor at Renovation Church, Jeremy Havlin, said something in a sermon several months ago that has stayed with me. (Actually a lot of things he says stays with me, but this one is always close to my heart.) He said, “Sometimes set-backs are set-ups for greatness.” In other words, sometimes set-backs are set-ups for the next step to something greater than we could possibly imagine.
He went on the say that in living the Christian life, we don’t need to know what’s ahead, we only need to know the next step He wants us to take. Amen.
Now that Gary and I have had the experience of many birthdays, we’re on the other side of life. And even though some people look at that fact with sadness or with a determination to remain young, we both can see the joys associated with living for and trusting in Him over the long haul, in good times and in bad.
Gary’s diagnosis of cancer about 3 months after our wedding; a difficult period in our marriage in which we came close to losing our way; Gary being downsized from his long-term career job just a few years before his planned retirement; a land purchase that fell through after we had already sold our house; rejections of my early writings . . . these were all instances of going through difficulty in order to receive an incredible blessing. In each case, God poured out more blessing than we could have ever imagined!
Please know I’m not supporting a name-it-and-claim-it religion–quite the contrary! After all, John the Baptist was beheaded, many of the disciples were killed, and the martyrs . . . well, they were martyred. Yes, bad things really do happen to good people.
Instead, I’m supporting a believe-in-Him-and-His-Word-regardless-of-what-happens confidence that Our God is in control. Sometimes we don’t live to see the good that comes through our bad circumstances, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t good that eventually came from it. We may not even know the good until we reach eternity.
All that to say that we can become so used to His Word that we become underwhelmed by its truth.
For instance, consider Romans 8:28.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)
We’ve probably heard or read that verse hundreds of times. Perhaps we’ve read it so much that we’ve lost enthusiasm for its powerful message: God uses all things. Everything. Good and bad. All things work together, and He uses it for our good.
The unpaid bill. The shocking illness. The divorce. The death. All can and will work together for good in some way.
So what set-backs are you facing today? Could they simply be set-ups for something good in the future? Could they be part of the next step He wants you to take?
One thing we can know for sure. Regardless of what happens, it’ll be good in some way.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Vonda
