Being Content
Last time, we reviewed part one of enjoying the salvation we have in Christ Jesus. We discussed in depth the misery that Christians who do not do anything go through, and the joy that those who are eager and willing to seek after the will of our Lord Jesus Christ experience. Also, we discovered how to make a transition from not doing anything in Christ to becoming a person who serves the Lord, our God, Jesus Christ whom we love because He first loved us.
We have now arrived at part two of our three part series on how to enjoy our salvation. We will discuss why and how to be content in any given situation we face. We have divided part two into two sections. Please let us open our hearts, minds, eyes and ears to allow the Holy Spirit of God to speak to you and make an eternal difference in our lives. May the Spirit of the LORD rise amongst us!
Section I
We are living to serve our Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill the will of the Father. We are to seek after Him and ask Him to guide us to where He wants us to be. So many times we may lose sight or focus of who God really is, His position to us, and ours to Him. Our state of happiness then becomes dependent on what He does for us. When we ask and do not receive, we will soon rebel against God, raise our little fist at Him and yell “That’s not fair!” That is very cute! Who are we to tell God what is fair and unfair? What is just and unjust? Was it fair that His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, who was blameless, without blemish, to die on a cross for our sins while we were still sinning? When we look at it from that aspect, we can truly see why life is not fair, and that we are the ones who benefited from the most unfair situation that ever happened on earth. My friends, whenever we attempt to question God, make sure we can answer the questions He will have for us, lest we make a fool out of ourselves before Him.
Let us only take a look at one of the parade of questions God asked Job, and will ask us if we dare to question His judgment. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”(Job 38:4) With that question alone we are made foolish before the Lord our God. We do not question our Creator, our Master, our Father, our Lord, our Friend, our Savior! We must get back into perspective that we are living to make His name high! We are to know our roles, and seek guidance. When we pray, we must remember, it’s not our will, but His will to be done.
Now, being that we have established this clarification of who is in charge, we will all have ups and downs, good times and bad times, and face many troubles, trials, and tribulations in our life time. There will be suffering. That is inevitable. However, the Lord is faithful and just to lift up our spirits and souls, sustaining us through all situations. These various trials and tribulations in our lifetime here on planet earth are to the glory of our Father God in Heaven.
Although we may not always understand why these things happen, let it be well within our souls to know God is faithful. Without tragedy, there can never be triumph. Without bad, how can we ever experience good? Jesus points out the suffering, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But He who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22) We may think we have a lot of stuff here on planet earth, but we really don’t have anything. Everything belongs to God and He only lets us borrow it for a length of time. Read how Job describes after the Lord took away all of his possessions, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
I have seen countless times how when things are good, we praise God, but when things are not so good, we turn away from God so quickly and try to do it on our own but fail miserably. After we fail, we then have a tendency to blame God. However, God is always faithful and just, uplifting us even when we do not wait for Him to act on our behalf or when we step out of His will. Oh yes, God has control over everything and anything that happens to in our lives. So, we ask why do these things happen to us? Well, until we can answer God’s question, let that question go. “…for He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) If we think everything should be perfect for us, we must ask ourselves if we are perfect ourselves? None of us are perfect. No not one of us! If we want to see perfect, we must keep the will of the Father, remaining blameless through the righteous blood of Jesus Christ, keeping us whole and holy until He returns. Until then, we have nothing to complain about. We cannot require perfection if we are nowhere near worthy of perfection ourselves.