Development Over Destruction!

We could let disappointments disable us. OR we could choose to let them develop us.

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On a Wednesday afternoon in early June it happened. I could feel the brakes giving out in my truck.

And I had been warned. There was the indicator light that had been on for a couple weeks. But because my sweet husband had filled the brake fluid to capacity, I thought I was fine.

Turns out I wasn't.

And the short story is that the brakes would go out completely, in another city 45 minutes away, at the most inconvenient time, and under the most unfortunate of circumstances.

And yet God in His infinite wisdom and grace would reveal to me something in the pages of His Word just hours before in my quiet time. Because this soldier is always in review. Because... truly... I cannot afford to miss what He's saying, and how He's working.

And He is always the gracious teacher - ready to train the most hungry of hearts.

John 4:34. The red letter. Ahh, yes, the important pieces to take close examination of:

"Then Jesus explained, 'My nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me, and from finishing His work.'"

Jesus left us with an example: to do the will of God as He did: to make a career... a business out of it.

Jesus was rapt in the will of the One who had sent Him.

He knew why He had come.

And He was content in doing precisely that.

And sometimes we forget.

Sometimes we forget that our point and purpose is the same as His. To reveal the heart of the Father.

And it's often that He will present a challenge before us to see just how we will behave. How well we will do in RE-presenting Him to a hurting world.

Ahh... and it comes through the most unlikeliest of circumstances.

• Disappointment.

• Discouragement.

• Disability.

• Disadvantage.

And it's so funny that I would read, in review, just hours before a debilitating hardship the words I had journaled months before:

 

The main business of life is not to avoid pain, inconvenience, or fatigue, or to even seek the removal of them for personal gain, but to simply DO the will of God, regardless of the cost.

He did.

And the theme has been coming up again and again and again this year... my year of waiting and watching... this idea that God is not just a burden-lifter, seeking to "get me out of" a painful situation, but to learn what it means to effectively navigate the rough waters, and to go through it successfully, with great confidence and ultimate victory.

Because the truth really is that there is more to gain spiritually by learning to properly maneuver tough storms than to avoid danger altogether, experiencing safety on the shore!

And so it could be even now... and for you too... that God is at work in your situations threatening to undermine your spiritual strength and vigor. Because not every hurtful woe is aimed from the enemy himself.

God is at work!

Always.

• Strengthening our faith.

• Deepening our awareness.

• Growing our trust.

Disadvantages, disappointments, and discouragements are what damage the fragile heart the most. Don't let them destroy you, but develop you!