The 4 states of being

So, the other day, it dawned on me that there are at least 4 states of being…..the good times, the bad times, in God’s will and out of God’s will…… 

For the longest time, I used to think that when you are in God’s will, things should go smoothly…..or if things start going badly, it’s coz you are out of God’s will for your life……..and somehow that seemed to ease my pain…..and helped to explain life 

However, after looking at the Word again, it became clear that good and bad times, being in God’s will or not, are different states that are independent and mutually exclusive. Of course, it is great to have good times when in God’s will for your life……But how about those bad and difficult times? Then of course it becomes difficult to watch those who are out of God’s will having good times…….Somehow, it seems like a just act when those out of God’s will go through bad times……. 

The thing I want to focus on are those times when things go bad when you are in the midst of God’s will for your life? What do I mean? You are doing all that you know how to do….You are trusting God, expecting Him to come through for you, but somehow things just don’t seem to work……You try and try again, but somehow, it’s like the harder you worker, the harder you fall, and you feel discouraged……… 

I think that’s where I am in my life at this time…..But after looking at Job’s life, I began to understand a couple of things…..That those bad times can still come, even when you are still hanging in there…..I mean, don’t get me wrong…I am not saying that my life is as squeaky clean as Job’s……I think the challenge for me, and hence my challenge to all of us is to consider how Job reacted to the sudden and traumatic change that happened in his life……Even when he did not understand what was going on, he did not charge God foolishly…..He did not listen to the bad advice that he was hearing from elsewhere, but kept his mind stayed on God…… 

Another example was Joseph….Even while he was in the pit, in the jail, in Potiphar’s house or elsewhere, He was still in God’s will, but it took over 19 years before he finally got to where he needed to be……to sit at the right hand of Pharaoh and manage the affairs of all of Egypt……… 

So what am I saying……Should we stand about and wait 19 years for God’s will to come to pass…..I know it’s awfully tempted to jump out of God’s will to go and work out your own will, but my encouragement to you, and to myself too is to trust His hand, even when I do not understand…….. 

Even when things go from bad to worse and worst, trust Him…..Better to go through hard times in His will, than good times outside His will…

Just another thing from Job 1:8-10 that I want to share with you……..Job was perfect, upright, a man who feared God and eschewed evil….Indeed God said that there was no other like him in the earth……And then look what God had done for him….. 

Satan complains that the Lord had “made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side” Job 1:10. Basically, the enemy was super jealous of the love and protection that the Lord had blanketed over Job and everything He had…….The Lord had blessed the work of His hand and his substance is increased in the land. 

I dunno about you, but I am realizing that the enemy knows that doubt and difficulty are the 2 major things that He can use to dislodge God from His rightful place in my life and then make me vulnerable to his continual attack……I am resolving to be like Job…….to be like no other, to be perfect and upright…..one that fears God and eschews evil……

I know, it’s one of those things that is easier said than done….But why lie….I would like God to be proud of me and rebuke the accuser of the brethren on my behalf…..and that comes naturally from a place of obedience and continual submission to Him