We
know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . Romans
8:28
It is only a faithful person who
truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our
circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing
it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one
loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our
circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our
unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation.
We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never
be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If
we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He
will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is
the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work,
to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to
Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about
faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian
workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only
to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not
that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through
us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us.
He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part.
God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
(Taken
from Oswald Chambers – “My Utmost for His Highest” December 18)