All Things Happen (for a reason)

Scripture: II timothy 1:12 (NKJV) - For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed,  for I know whom I have believed and  am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

The title above is an oft-repeated slogan spouted by all kinds of people nowadays.  I’d like to ask each one who uses it what exactly do they mean when they say it?  At times I suspect it is spoken to calm the anxiety that many may experience due to seemingly inexplicable tragedies that occur, or it may be said to subconsciously express a belief that we do not wield nearly as much control over what happens to us as we sometimes like to think.  Moreover, we often do not even completely appreciate or recognize the providential care of our Savior God until we see it in retrospect!  (eg., ‘Ah, now I know why He allowed me to go through that trial; He wanted to teach me or show me……!)  Sometimes folks say that phrase in the wake of inexplicably GOOD things that have happened.

No matter our thoughts on that phrase, Paul the Apostle rested the reality of His trials and travails, and, indeed, ALL of his blessings, on the Lord his God, who is sovereign, merciful, and ever willing to dispense His all-sufficient grace to those who serve Him wholeheartedly!  He was not ashamed to suffer for his Lord, into whose hands he had entrusted ALL that happens to him.  To reference that throwback commercial phrase, i.e., “Be like Mike,” we’d do well to try to “Be like the Apostle Paul,” working our way UP to being like JESUS!”  Paul knew the One in whom he believed!  That’s all we, too, need to do.

Prayer:  Father God, when we feel scattered, distracted, and/ or overwhelmed by adversities and challenges in our daily responsibilities, please call us back to the singlemindedness of Paul, Your blessed apostle, who was always persuaded of Your devotedness to guarding what he’d entrusted to You—his life and the eternal rewards of serving You.  Amen!


(by Denise Diggs)