Be Encouraged

How's your day going? Is it playing out the way you'd thought it would?
Often times, with varying degrees of effort, we plan out our days.
From something as simple as mentally acknowledging the more important things you need to do all the way to a full-fledge TO-DO list. So we hop out of bed (or drag ourselves reluctantly) - and put our plans into motion.

And then the unexpected happens....

Extended traffic backup, excruciating migraine, a friend asks for a BIG favor, a family crises, car trouble (from out of gas to an all-out wreck)....this list of things we didn't plan can literally go on and on for miles, yet with one final destination; Frustration Station.
Now I don't mean frustration in a way that implies "Blowing your stack" or fuming anger: not everyone fumes over frustration, some people become detached, numb or sullen. We all deal with it differently when our plans are hindered or derailed.

Here's The Word:

Proverbs 16:9 A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

For us who have been recieved into Christ's Body, we often see our pursuit of perfection as a life that grows less and less troublesome. We think that any bad thing that befalls us is (or should only be) directly related to some immature thing we're being corrected on. However, that's not entirely true.
Even though we can expect a loving Father to correct and teach us, there's much more to His plans than a persuasion for our obedience. This is not bad news. God is sovereign and just like the story of Job, if God so chooses to allow the derailing of your life for any reason, His plans are just, true, sure and directed to your (eventual and lasting) good.

To quote a line attributed to Capt. Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean ) "The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem."
The thinking is not new but still a very powerful resolve to hold to. Another similar quote was made by the Roman philosopher Epictetus who said,    "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them."
The Spirit is given to us to walk in truth and the truth is that life in this fallen world can deal a winning hand on one day, but aces and eights the next. Even if we are being rightfully chastised or not, The LORD is still The LORD and His purposes may go beyond our comprehension but not His compassion and desire to give good gifts to His children.
Yet, whatever befalls us, one thing remains. We are His, He is ours and "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him ~ Ecclesiastes 3:14"
So if you are in Him, take courage. He may reaffirm your dependence, estabilsh His Sovereignty, test your faith, try your reigns (motives of your heart), use you as an example of "faith through trial" to help His other children (Isn't that now what Job is for us?), or take you to the next to the next level in very exciting, yet disruptive ways.

Here's The Word:

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Ever notice that if you go back to a place where a train wreck happened, there's not much physical evidence of it? They're always cleaned up, trains are either repaired or demolished, tracks are straightened or re-laid. and things continue chugging along ...in time...in time.


In Him, Cros