Skip to main content

The good worked in is about to become the good worked out

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans 8:28)

If you are anything like me, you get a little tired not knowing what God is doing, why it is taking so long, how he plans to take the next steps in your life, or if he is even paying attention. It is always good for me to recall this verse, reminding myself there is no distance between God and ME at this moment or at ANY moment in time. He is right there alongside and his 'role' is to help us along. That suggests to me there is always some action God is looking for from ME. It is usually some form of obedience or trust step. I have to do as he asks - he does as he promises. I have to lean in when I don't see the evidence - he does as the rest. 

Wordless sighs - do you ever 'utter' those types of prayers? I do a whole lot of the time. Usually it is because I am so confused by the circumstances, or overwhelmed by the speed at which things are happening, and I just 'utter' that deep sigh that clearly lets God know I am out of juice. I don't have the energy - spiritually, physically, or mentally to take on another thing. I find myself 'undone' and utterly at his mercy. Ever groan a little in those moments when you know something is about to break loose and you are standing right in the middle of it? I do! I know there is an avalanche of something coming my way and I am far from prepared to take it on.

It is indeed good news that God knows us better than we know ourselves. Every detail of our lives is ordered, worked out, perfectly orchestrated - even when it seems like the avalanche is coming, there is order about to come out of what seems like nothing more than a big load of chaos! Chew on that one for a moment - what looks like nothing good is really about to become the 'medium' by which God creates something good within us. Just as a potter has the 'medium' of clay from which he creates something that doesn't even remotely resemble the 'blob' of formless mess he starts out with, so God takes the 'mess' of our chaos and forms something beautiful in us.

Every detail is ordered. Don't miss that one - EVERY detail - not just the bigger stuff, but the tiniest and seemingly most 'insignificant' detail in that chaos is about to be used for something good. When something good is worked into our lives, do you know what comes next? We get to share that 'goodness of God' with others. The good worked in is about to become the good worked out. Just sayin!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment if this message has spoken to your heart.

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa
Post a Comment
Read more

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,
Post a Comment
Read more

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,
Post a Comment
Read more