Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 16:1-5
Prov 16:1-5
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.
Acts 5:39b-41
So, they took his [Gamaliel] advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Why does God…? Have you ever asked this question when something happened in your life or in the life of someone you love? Most of us have at some time. Why is this happening to me? We say or think that is one of the best people that I know, so why did he/she get that cancer or have that heart attack or why were they involved in that accident? Why are people persecuted for doing and saying what is right? Why does God let bad things happen to good people?
In the words of Paul: “who has known the mind of the Lord?” Unless God tells us (and he doesn’t explain himself to any of us), we most often do not know why. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, they were punished for their sin. In the case of Job, he suffered and was tempted because he was a righteous man. Paul was in a shipwreck because there was a storm while he was at sea (probably just chance).
What really matters is what we do with our trials and how we handle things that come into our lives. We can trust God and he will carry us through it, or we can grumble and complain and even despair, or even worse, we can blame God. The choice is ours. When we overcome trials by trusting God (however they present themselves), we will be stronger. It will grow our faith to even higher levels. Life is not easy. Life is not fair. Bad things happen to us all. But we can rejoice in the Lord always because he is always near! We can live in his indescribable peace.
O Lord God, increase my faith. Give me wisdom. Help me trust in the strength that only comes from your Spirit living in me. Instill in me a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. Use me to serve others to your glory. When bad things happen to me and to those that I love, give me greater faith to trust you to get us through the hard times. Help your people be at peace with each other and to show the love of Jesus to all the world. Help me honor you in all I do and say (or even by what I do not say). I humbly pray in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Robert
