“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28
Oh mighty God, today I am so overwhelmed by Your goodness to me, yet again, what words shall I offer up to You? What thoughts can compare with You? Yet, oh God, do not all good and wise thoughts, thoughts concerning You, Your dear Son and Your blessed Holy Spirit, do they not come from You and Your inspired word? Oh praise You – Yes! And yet, even through vessels of mere dirt and clay, men and women who You have chosen to be Your people, blood brought and redeemed, do You not also use us to deliver the words of hope, life and encouragement, the very Gospel of truth? And again, to me this day You have so blessed me and encouraged me, enriched my inner being. Oh Lord, increase my love, my desire, my contentment, yes even my resolve for You; be my thoughts, my boast and my life this day, even more so than yesterday past.
There are so many exacting places and parts in my life that You have been working and transforming, destroying and building, yes making altogether new, yet in this area of knowing your eternal good for me, has this not been one of the greatest blessings in my life? Oh, You alone certainly know! Although, You know that I am only a babe in such graces, grow my trust and confidence in You, and that I might praise You continually through my trials.
And yet I have been blessed, not because of trials and difficulties, pains and thorns, have ceased to come, rather when they now come I am reminded of You, Your love, your grace, Your mercies; I am reminded of the Lord Jesus, His sufferings, His victory; I am reminded Your dear Son, the preeminent Christ. You have opened my eyes to see eternal realities and truths in that You work all things, even the things meant for evil against me, to be made useful for my eternal good. And this eternal good, is it not the conformity to the image of Your Son? Without a doubt – yes!198 For it is You who has called me and shown me grace; it is You who has justified199 me and declared me innocent; it is You who redeemed my life;200 it is You who first loved me;201 it is You who will not let me go;202 it is You who will glorify me.
For all of this, shall I not respond to You? Shall I not search You out, seeking You as the most precious of all to behold? For all this, I have been given eyes of grace to see the eternal good You are working in and through me, even in the midst of trials and great difficulties.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”203
And should greater and greater difficulties and pressures of refining fire come, oh that I should be able to look at all Your great faithfulness, Your great mercies, the greatness of You Yourself, and I hope to be like the three saints of old who where thrown into that blazing fire, I hope to be able to say like them:
“But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?’
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve you gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’”204
I too hope that this would be my reply, my resolve and my willingness, and I know that I can trust You now and then should such come according to Your will. Although my story may not be the same, I know I will too dance with The Forth,205 Your dear Son, most precious and blessed Lord Jesus. I am so filled with thanksgiving for all of this. You have been teaching and training me to hear clearly Your voice and to follow You,206 trusting and resting in You, and growing a desire to joyfully work for You.
Now herein, because of knowing that You work all things for my eternal good, for even Your discipline of me is because of Your unfailing love,207 what joy and working grace You have bestowed upon me, I know that I am still often “prone to wander, prone to leave the One I love.”208 And although there are times where I am able to truly praise You, to “count it all joy” when the “various kinds” of trials come and test my faith,209 I still find that often I must repent when my very first response is not to praise You. However, when this happens You have always been faithful to guide me back to Yourself, forgiving me yet again, and reminding me that You only work for my eternal good. For it is You alone which gives me such strength, such grace and such deep joy, and closeness with You, when I offer back to You what You have given me. Oh, how beautiful Your word does encourage me forward on this path:
“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through Him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”210
Shall not then my humble cry be like John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”211 Oh that I might also be willing to go outside the camp and offer up the sacrifice of praise; thus to be engaging my faith in trusting and rejoicing because You are so worthy. Shall I not say, although I have not yet experienced to the same degree, as the Apostle Paul:
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and my share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”212
Oh, how magnificent is this word; how beautiful and propelling; how can I not offer up praises unto You in the trials of purification, especially my trials which are less costly than Paul’s? Oh Lord, make me to be humble and contrite, seeking and longing and striving to follow the pathway of Christ. Lord, cause me to see clearly and follow Jesus as He prayed at Gethsemane213 the night before His sacrifice of love and grace upon the cross for me. Oh how He must have prayed so truly, so fully so powerful and real, so alone with You. Let me learn and not fall asleep when the darkest hour approaches, but let me be more at the ready, ready to praise You when the times they seem the most difficult. Like one dear brother has said, “Habakkuk moved from petition to praise.”214
“I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
“God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on high places.”215