WHEN LIFE TUMBLES IN, WHAT THEN?

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

When I was a young preacher I read a sermon by Arthur John Gossip with the title, But, When Life Tumbles In What Then? He preached that message shortly after his wife died. I was absolutely amazed at his great faith in God. I couldn’t understand how so soon after this great loss he could deliver an uplifting message of hope and courage.

I was a young preacher then and I am an old retired preacher now and I still am amazed. I pray for the kind of faith that will give me Arthur John Gossip’s kind of relationship with God. He was hurting but as he walked with God he knew (faith) that it would turn out alright.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 that we can be sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. I see two things here: (1) Every detail in our lives is worked for something good. He doesn’t say that every detail is good. It certainly isn’t. We have accidents and get hurt, we lose a loved one, we have a heart attack, we lose our job, our mate stops loving us and leaves. The list goes on and on! Paul says, Every detail in our lives is not good but it works into something good. (2) This happens in the lives of those who love God. This is important!

I look back over a life of loving God and see how He has taken the bad things that happened in my life and worked them into something good. When hell was breaking loose all around me I had a hard time believing that anything good could ever come out of the mess.

I know that God is good. I find my hope in His past promises and faithfulness. I know He will work all things out for my good. When life tumbles, in I just tighten my grip on His Hand a little bit more.