Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 24-25, 28, 35, 37-39 (ESV)
So which one of you knows what is going to happen the rest of this year? How about tomorrow, next week or even next month? We keep pressing, pushing, and more, but we still wonder in the face of the uncertainty of tomorrow, whether things we hope for will work out or not.
There are answers—we just don’t see them yet. And because we believe that God is bigger than it all—we feel, or it is suggested by others, that we have to leave room in the midst of the wondering and uncertainty—that He will work it all out for good. But when? Although, maybe there is a lot going on now, we don’t yet see yet.
One of the Federal Judges I clerked for told a story of a man who was caught stealing in a far-off kingdom. As he was brought before the king to answer for his crime, he was informed that the penalty for stealing is death. Despite the stress of the inevitable, the man seemed relatively calm. He knew that the king had a beloved, prized horse that was treated like a member of the king’s family, and the thief planned on playing a hunch.
When the man was brought before the king to be judged, and sentenced, the thief asked if he could say a few words before he was sent off. The king agreed.
“Your Majesty, I know you have a wonderful horse. If you will give me a year, I will teach your horse to talk. If I am successful, you will spare my life.” The king thought over the offer and agreed.
As the man left, one of his friends said, “Are you crazy? You can’t teach the horse to talk!” To which the man—now with a one-year reprieve of his sentence—replied, “You may be right. But you know what? A lot can happen in a year. I may die of natural causes. The king may die. Or, the horse may talk.”
Sometimes life doesn’t seem to work out the way we have planned or hoped. No matter what we try, the things we want to accomplish and bring about—just don’t seem to happen. Sometimes life looks bleak, especially when we know what tomorrow may bring and it may not be so good—or when we don’t know what it will bring.
Tomorrow is a fog. But realizing that God is already there, at work and in control should provide each of us with a level of comfort and peace for the journey we are on. And it should provide us with the energy to continue on a path of faith and trust with Him. And even though uncertainty remains, we know that whatever unfolds before us will ultimately be for good, as He promises. Romans 8:28.
So we never give in or give up, and just keep on doing what we should be doing—walking that path of faith and trust. Taking that next step and then another, and maybe even at times stepping to the side for a moment to let God have some room to work.
Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way we hoped. Sometimes it does. Sometimes God performs a miracle we would have never envisioned happening even in our wildest imagination. Because sometimes the seas do part and the walls fall down.
And so on we go—doing what we need to do—and patiently trusting in faith in Him to see what will happen.
Remembering also, that sometimes—the horse just may talk.
In His Name–Scott
