What's It All About?
10/01/15 15:12 Filed in: Christian Life
What's It All About?
By Rod Dixon
Often, as we try to make sense of the world around us and our circumstances at any given moment, we get caught up in how things impact us personally. We ask ourselves, "What is God showing me here?". Of course this is not only normal, but also a healthy response as we grow in our walk with God. Reading a friend’s blog post recently, I was reminded of something God impressed deeply into my soul at a time when I was completely without answers.
In trying to make sense of our circumstances, I've learned that God is always about revealing Himself to us. Yes, He is about healing, redemption, restoration, etc., but also showing us details about His character so that He can be increasingly "known" by us. And the more we know Him, the deeper our love and trust in Him grows during the storms of life.
Clearly, it is in our nature to wonder about our circumstances from a very personal point of view - why me Lord? How come I'm facing _________ (fill in the blank).
In this context, I’m reminded of the story of our friend Job whose tests it seems, played out in God's throne room as well as in Job's life. Also, the passage at the beginning of Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…". The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the larger audience as a framework to encourage ourselves to press on, striving to live a godly life.
God has shown me that it's not always about us. I think sometimes, God uses His dealings with us to demonstrate aspects of His character to the heavenly hosts declaring He is just and righteous and long-suffering and loving toward us. And we get to play a small roll in such declarations by walking in submission, love and trust through whatever – in His sovereignty – is placed in our path. This understanding has helped me when I am without answers. Maybe this is all playing out for a different audience than just me. Certainly, that's not always the case and probably not exclusively the case, but I think some element of everything God does in our lives is for that larger audience. Of course there are also benefits for us too, as we are strengthened in our faith through the spiritual discipline of "…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…" Heb. 12:2
By Rod Dixon
Often, as we try to make sense of the world around us and our circumstances at any given moment, we get caught up in how things impact us personally. We ask ourselves, "What is God showing me here?". Of course this is not only normal, but also a healthy response as we grow in our walk with God. Reading a friend’s blog post recently, I was reminded of something God impressed deeply into my soul at a time when I was completely without answers.
In trying to make sense of our circumstances, I've learned that God is always about revealing Himself to us. Yes, He is about healing, redemption, restoration, etc., but also showing us details about His character so that He can be increasingly "known" by us. And the more we know Him, the deeper our love and trust in Him grows during the storms of life.
Clearly, it is in our nature to wonder about our circumstances from a very personal point of view - why me Lord? How come I'm facing _________ (fill in the blank).
In this context, I’m reminded of the story of our friend Job whose tests it seems, played out in God's throne room as well as in Job's life. Also, the passage at the beginning of Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…". The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the larger audience as a framework to encourage ourselves to press on, striving to live a godly life.
God has shown me that it's not always about us. I think sometimes, God uses His dealings with us to demonstrate aspects of His character to the heavenly hosts declaring He is just and righteous and long-suffering and loving toward us. And we get to play a small roll in such declarations by walking in submission, love and trust through whatever – in His sovereignty – is placed in our path. This understanding has helped me when I am without answers. Maybe this is all playing out for a different audience than just me. Certainly, that's not always the case and probably not exclusively the case, but I think some element of everything God does in our lives is for that larger audience. Of course there are also benefits for us too, as we are strengthened in our faith through the spiritual discipline of "…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…" Heb. 12:2