J.A. Matteson
The road is not always smooth nor the grass green. Bitter cold replaces the warmth of summers sun and a friend returns evil for good. "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10). The times and seasons of our existence are for the good pleasure of God. The earth is His, we are His creation to dispose of as He chooses. And unless we are vigilant we may delude ourselves into concluding our lot deserves nothing short of feather beds and roses. Underlying this mindset is a fundamental misunderstanding of who God is and what He after as He infuses the life of His Son in us. And until we recognize the pleasant and unpleasant as both being under the sovereign control of God to disperse as He pleases, we will trod along our way being tossed hither and yon by every circumstance. What God is after is that His children, as with His Son, will put on a heart of wisdom and obedience, emptying the last vestiges of self into the eternal ocean of God's perfect will. Whatsoever comes to pass, Job understood, is from the hand of God. And as such ultimately it is for our good, even though in the moment we may not understand. So we trust in Him who is faithful, defer to Him who is omniscient, and rest in Him who will never leave nor forsake us. Satan incites us to curse God in our affliction. Grace transforms our hearts completely, where affliction becomes the affirmation and witness of our lips to the everlasting love of Him who died that we might live.
Copyright © 2014 Immutable Word Ministries ("…the word of our God stands forever.") Isa. 40:8