God’s Great Hand at Work
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A Christian thought to ponder ...
Have you ever seen God's hand in your life and at work?
The trials, struggles, hardships, and disappointments that we go through in life are not a punishment from God, but they are allowed in our lives to test our faith, to grow our trust and love in Him. Peter states in 1 Peter 1:7 (NLT) just how precious our faith is to God.
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
God is the Author of our story. We may not like how the story is turning out, but we realize it is a story that reveals His greater good and His greater purpose. As the apostle Paul enlightens us in Romans 8:28 (KJV), “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” But God will never let us endure more temptation than we can handle. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV), “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
We will go through periods of rough times of grief, but in the end, we will discover the triumphant hand of God at work. For example, in John 11:17, Mary and Martha waited four days for Jesus to come and heal Lazurus. During that time, Lazurus died, and they anguished over his death. Although Lazarus died, God’s great hand was at work to reveal a greater purpose and to bring God the glory. As you will see in the book of John, chapter 11:4 (NLT) it shows God's greater purpose and power, “But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” Jesus performed his greatest miracle by bringing back Lazarus from the dead. On that day, hearts were resurrected and made anew. The disciples and people then truly believed he was the promise foretold, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Without the trials and difficulties we go through in our lives, our Christian walk cannot flourish and grow stronger. We will grow complacent and not seek God in all things, if life is grand with no problems. He does not always answer our cries and pleas immediately, and sometimes He does not answer any of those cries and pleas at all. We must learn to wait patiently, quietly, and seek Him earnestly in prayer. Our walk with the Lord will grow, blossom, and flourish when our faith is tested. As James pointed out in James 1:3 (NLT), “For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” If we trust in God’s sovereignty, place all of our troubles into His hands, and let Him take control, we will realize that he has a plan and everything has a greater purpose. His great love for us has no bounds. We must place the pages of our hearts and lives into God’s hands and allow him to write His story onto our hearts and allow His great hand to work in our lives.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the work that you do in our lives. Help
our love, faith and trust in You grow and flourish when we face trials and
difficulties. Help us to be steadfast in prayer and ever seeking you in all
that we do. Help us to surrender to You and allow You to write Your story upon
our hearts so that we may share that story with others and the great hand of
Your work within our lives.
I ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Peace and Blessings to you all!
Carol
