| When things go wrong, how do we respond? When our prayers are
not answered as we envisioned, how do we act? When a problem appears permanent,
what is our reaction?
Do we blame others? Do we withdraw? Do we seek an unacceptable behavioral or
emotional method of escape? Perhaps we have all tried some of these tactics
& discovered their ultimate futility.
The key to knowing God's peace in such instances is acceptance. By
acceptance, I do not mean resignation or passivity. I am not talking about
developing a martyr complex or nursing self-pity. What I do mean is taking
everything as filtered through the benevolent will of God and trusting him for
the results, no matter what that may mean.
This is biblical acceptance in the purest sense. Paul questioned God about
his thorn in the flesh, even beseeched him to remove it. But God answered, "My
grace is sufficient," and Paul came to terms with his weakness. Jesus prayed
passionately in the garden before the Cross but obediently submitted his will to
the will of the Father. The prophet Habakkuk wondered why God would use the
wicked warriors of Babylon as his rod of correction for the Hebrews. Habakkuk's
conclusion was that even if the worst happened, he would still rejoice and trust
in God (Hab. 3:17-19). Job queried God repeatedly concerning his calamities but
ultimately was forced to acknowledge the sovereignty and power of God & his
own inability to understand all of God's ways (Job 42:1-6). Acceptance enables
us to deal with life as it really is, not as we dreamed or hoped it would be. It
is a crash course in authentic faith, enabling us to put our confidence in God
when our questions go unanswered, our problems unresolved, our hopes delayed.
It then enables us to go on, and we can wake up each day with the knowledge
that we have put ourselves and our situation squarely in the loving hands of our
tender heavenly Father. Nothing may change externally, but we change drastically
in our spirit and soul. We can cease depleting our spiritual energy on those
things we cannot change by leaving them with God and then work positively toward
those things we can change with God's gracious help.
When I fight against my problems, Lord, I have difficulty resting in your
peace. I realize now I can accept my conditions, trusting that you are
faithfully at work in my life. I will press on to know you, not striving but
simply seeking to be fully submitted to you. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
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