In the mornings, before my son leaves for school, I have him listen to an audio Bible on my iPhone. They have one that is read by children, for children, and it's just a few short verses to start the day off right.
This morning, the text was 2 Corinthians 4: 1-12. As I was listening to the podcast, the words that were spoken began to grasp my spiritual attention. After the podcast was finished, I pulled up the text on my Bible app to read again, aloud. As I was reading those Scriptures something very interesting really stuck out to me. It was verse 8: "We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair..."
We are perplexed but not in despair.
We are perplexed....but not in despair.
As I read those words aloud, I began to get teary-eyed and hope began to return to me.
You see, I don't know about you, but there are a lot of things about my walk with God that perplex me. The problem of perplexity is that it has a way of despairing us. When I allow myself to become perplexed about something, I tend to lose all hope about that situation, because I simply don't understand it. I don't like not understanding something!
So here's the wonderful thing: we can be perplexed and be hopeful at the same time! How is this possible, you ask? It's made possible through faith.
Faith tells us that, despite not understanding something fully, we know that God has our best interest in heart. It's not a blind faith, but a seasoned faith, a tested faith. A faith that has been proven valid, because God has proven Himself faithful to us.
It's wonderful news for me, because it means I don't have to have all the answers in order for the plans that God has for my life to come into fruition.
So, I want to encourage anyone out there who may be experiencing some perplexity about a particular situation. Do not allow yourself to be in despair. If you continue reading that chapter, we are encouraged to trust not in what we can see, but in what we cannot see (v.18).
Trust in the unseen hand of the Almighty, the One who makes ALL things work together for your good!
1 comment:
I like that you point out that our faith is seasoned, not blind. We know that blind faith leads to dangerous things, but a faith that has been tested out and answered with good results proves the trustworthiness of our God.
And I will now have a children's church song stuck in my head all day.
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