As I said the other day, God has had me on a journey of writing a series of blog posts. He gave me 5 titles and the order in which I am to write them. As I approached today’s entry, I was a little anxious as I had very little direction, except a title, in which to walk. I didn’t even know what my scripture launching point was going to be. I was home from church on Sunday with a sick kid but wanted to “go to church,” so I cued up Steven Furtick at Elevation Church, my go-to guy for sermons on YouTube. As I glanced through the titles of sermons I hadn’t yet seen, my eye was drawn to “I’m Glad it Happened.” Let’s just say, God hand-picked this sermon for me! It was a 49 minute video, and it took me about 90 minutes to get through it! I kept stopping it and backing up and feverishly taking notes! So, much of what I’m sharing today was borrowed (or gleaned through the Holy Spirit) as I listened.
Several weeks ago, I was visiting with a nervous friend in a tough situation. God showed me that day that He wants us to be refined by our past or what we are currently going through…instead of being defined by it. I knew then that a blog post was brewing!
We seem to spend a lot of time in this life complaining about and wishing away parts of our lives. We wish away our past (mistakes made by ourselves or others, lifestyle or partner choices, abuse or neglect or abandonment inflicted on us out of our control, deaths of loved ones, etc.), our present (health concerns, financial muck/lack, marital and parenting concerns), and even our future when we don’t like how we assume it will look. I’ve spent way too much time, myself, engaging in this destructive, unfruitful behavior, and God has really been dealing with me about it, lately.
Enter Steven Furtick and today’s message!
Philippians chapter 1 finds Paul in chains in a Roman prison. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be doing much celebrating about that circumstance. Maybe that opinion is the very reason God has me digging about this topic! We’ve all read the “Count it all joy” verse 100 times, but do we? These verses and Steven’s message are kicking my legs out from under me and changing my heart! I want you to think of a couple of parts of your life (past or present) that you have spent time wishing away, and keep them at the front of your mind as we flesh this out.
Philippians 1:12 says, “…everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good news.” Paul knew, and we would do well to know this too, that He was being strategically positioned for a purpose! God’s purpose FOR HIM! Romans 8:28 says that ALL things (not just the good things, but even the muck!) work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes for them. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in how we see the muck, that we block what God wants to do through it! Phillipians 1:14 says “because of my imprisonment (not in spite of it), most of the believers here have learned to boldly speak God’s message without fear.” Paul truly knew to count it all joy!
Ok, now we get this concept…but how do we get to this point in our Christian walk? If we are to be refined by the messy parts of this life, instead of being defined by them, what nuggets can we take with us to help us to do this? I’m glad you asked!
Here are some key points I took away from the sermon, yesterday, and some things that God has illuminated as I’ve ruminated…
As we ponder again these areas that we’ve wished away, let’s re-frame them. Sometimes, we reflect on situations to the point of regret and resentment, instead of simply to the point of re-framing. Steven mentioned the idea of revision. If “re” means again, and “vision” means to see, then we simply need to allow God to teach us to re-see these situations. We need His help to understand how He wants to change us, our lives, our futures, our families, and our trajectories BECAUSE of negative situations we have faced or are currently facing!
Our spirits don’t have to be reflections of our situations. We don’t have to allow our outlook to be defined by the events that brought us to this point. ( After all, doesn’t His Word tell us to take every thought captive?) What if we were to change our focus from the situation itself to the outcome God desires to be achieved through that situation? After all, we don’t have to like a situation in order to appreciate the change it creates. What if we choose to shift our focus from what is happening to us to what is happening through us? Can we admit today, with Paul, that although we may not like how something feels, we know that God is up to something? that we know He promises to redeem the years of the locusts? that He gives and takes away for reasons beyond our comprehension, but for our good?
God doesn’t promise to take away every thing that causes us pain. Unfortunately, I’m realizing, slowly, that we seem to learn and grow the most through adversity. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in that fiery furnace. When Jesus walked through the fire with them, the ropes fell from them. They had to walk through the fire in order to be set free from it. Jonah had to spend 3 dark, stinky days stuck in the belly of the fish so that God could free him to do what God had set forth for him to do for the Kingdom. Jesus had to hang out for a couple of extra days so that Lazarus could die, in order for Lazarus to be able to live again and bring God the glory. (In fact, Jesus says in John 11:14, “For your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe.”) It wasn’t that God didn’t see these unpleasant situations or that He wasn’t there the whole time. God’s ways are not our ways, and He knows that much more can be accomplished through hard times than through easy ones! In the pain, there is a purpose, and we can actually be glad about it!
Lord, we thank you that you see, filter, and allow every thing that we face in our lives. Thank you for knowing what is best for us, even when it is painful. Lord, help us to change the way we see our circumstances. Help us to see them as you see them, so that their good works can be accomplished in our lives. Open our eyes to Divine revelations that you have prepared in advance for us. Help us to say, and truly desire, “Not our will, but yours, be done.” For your will shall be done when you allow us to re-shape our will to conform to yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen!