“Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” (John 19:11)
Look at your unrepentant employer, at the police officer who does not know the Lord, at your tormentor, look at any emissary of Satan, at Satan himself, and you can speak this verse to them.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1st John 3:1)
Our Father in heaven allows no suffering of any kind or in any form to come upon those He has chosen unless He either gives approval for it or administers it Himself. The truth of Romans 8:28 cannot be emphasized enough in our minds, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Yet there are still those who say, “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?”
The promise states that all things happen for good, not that we will see the good in it, not that we will understand fully in the midst of the trial, of the tribulation, in the pain.
With every blow of their fist, with every drop of spittle that fell on Him, with every strike of the mallet on those spikes that pierced His hands and feet, “Thy will be done,” went through our precious Savior’s mind.
Sometimes we can hear the wind picking up, sometimes we can see the storm approaching, but we should be prepared even when we cannot.
There is no war for our soul, we belong to the Living God, but there is a battle for our assurance, and it can at times take very little for the mind that serves Christ to follow the flesh that fears any deviation from the normal, from the hand of Him whom all have to do with.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
There is no wrath of God upon the elect, the Lord Jesus Christ took every drop of that upon Himself for you, but errant children must be corrected, else they will forget their place, servants are not allowed free will to disobey for long.
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” (Prov. 6:23)
But we must obey, as all children should, the rules of the household, so to speak, and in innocent errors we will make mistakes. The rod of correction is not used nearly as much as the staff of direction my friends, and we must be able to discern the difference between the two.
Willful disobedience will not be tolerated for long by our Father, nor should it be, mistakes, a judgment in error concerning the path He has chosen for us will be reprimanded less harshly.
“But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48)
Everything, always, done in love, and is always for good, our good and His glory. It matters not how it arrives in our lives, our Father has allowed it.
“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” (1st Peter 2:16)
You must realize this truth in your mind, without conceit, guarding against pride, the truth that we are untouchable, that no one, man or devil, is allowed to lay even one finger upon us unless our Father in heaven gives the approval to do so.
The question is this, can you accept all that He places upon you, can you do all that He has set before you with the knowledge that it is by His will that these things have been set before you on the path that He has chosen for you?
Will you say, “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?” or “Thy will be done.”
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)
It isn’t supposed to be easy; a long race is difficult to maintain a pace in, a fight requires blows to be accepted, the destination must be worth the journey. The straight gate awaits, you must keep your eye on the prize, through the fog of pain, remembering that He who allows it is He who calls you.
