What a crazy year! No one would have believed that in Western countries, the police would be forcing people in and out of lockdowns. That the government would be issuing rules to ban families to see each other. That a sickness would spread through the world, reportedly causing millions to die, yet the symptoms of which often need a government purchased test from the country of origin of that said disease to be detected.
The list of worldwide events this year that are incredibly significant and impact is nearly endless.
But I am guessing that for many reading this, there are also many, many more events that are closer to home, more personal. Things that have deeply affected you…
For us, if we look in the physical, it seems like we have wasted 6 months of our income, 6 months or work on our house, 6 months of quality time with out own family, 6 months of blood sweat & tears on trying to help others. And some of those others have then turned & attacked us causing much hurt.
After a 20 year battle with a chronically damaged back, this year has been the most significant deterioration and painful of my whole life. I am virtually now unable to work at all, even picking something up off the floor is excruciating. If I drive at all there is two days of recovery before I can handle the pain again.
Our house, through extra use, has damage, our vehicles still not sorted / running correctly. To say we are behind and struggling on So many levels is an understatement.
In this season it is so easy to get bitter & have resentment. *So* easy to want to retreat and put up barriers – to isolate & push people away. The natural reaction is to simply start to look out for Number 1…so I am actually going to try(!).
But by Number 1 I do not mean myself. I would be justified to do so – but that will just lead to more of the same with no real growth or benefit from all the ‘problems’ of 2020.
Let me explain. While everything I wrote above and more is true, while each and every situation has and is extremely difficult to deal with, they are ALL capable of being for my good.All of your situations can be turned for your good!
They can all be part of our growth. Every. Single. One. Yep even that one.
Before I dissect each one of the ones I have mentioned (and there are many more) – the easy way to allow them to be good for you is probably the hardest thing you can ever do. But also the only thing that costs us nothing, we can do it anywhere and may be the VERY PURPOSE of those thing s happening to you! And if you fail to make the correct decision – the same thing will keep happening over & over, just with different people / situations.
It is the opposite of what comes ‘natural’ and what your drive will be. Your drive will be to withdraw from painful situation and medicate. By medicate I don’t mean medicine – though it may include that. But it could be your work or business, porn, sex, alcohol, drugs, animals, food – you know the things you do to try to escape the boredom. Things that you do but really can’t say no to – despite the fact that you know you should. These things lead us away from what helps – and they trap us. Every. Single. One.
Try not to switch off now – remember I said it would be hard? You are going to find your mind want to throw away and get distracted from what I am about to say.
Each and every situation you have gone through, has been allowed by God. Sometimes He even caused it directly, other times it was a consequences of your own decisions / actions – but every time He can use it for good. Every. single. time.
Each person who has neglected you. Each person that you see has wronged you. Each person who has betrayed you. Each person who has rejected you. Each person who has attacked you. Each person who has gossiped about you. Each person in your family. Each person in your workplace. Each person in your church. Each person in that car that just cut you off. Every Single One of them!
I don’t say this lightly – as someone who helps people overcome issues associated with rape & abuse, this STILL holds true. People who are grieving the loss of others – this still holds true. Through the pain, through the torment, through the grief, through the confusion, there is a glimmer of Hope.
His name is Jesus. Hang in there – don’t allow your mind to wander now! I don’t mean this is a religious go to church / mass sense nor in an airy fairy everything is spiritual sense.
I mean this is a powerful, real and dynamic way – that the truth is that Jesus, that little baby born in Bethlehem, actually is alive! The reality is that GOD CARES ABOUT YOU!
He cares so much that He has allowed and orchestrated *many* situations to bring you to a point of understanding who He is.
He has also protected you from many, many, many things. Most things you have been unaware of – the umbilical cord around your neck, the person that wanted you dead, the sickness you didn’t contract. But some things you have been aware of: car crash that was going to happen, the snake that didn’t bite, the shark that didn’t attack, the dog that came to your rescue.
For me – I could name many: from accidents that didn’t happen, too ones that did but I didn’t die, to protection from very real spiritual beings that I didn’t believe in, to my kidneys & liver surviving the abuse, to my own desire & attempts to die, to my plans to eliminate others who had wronged me, to , well you get the idea. Lots! He saved me from Every. Single. One.
Through these and thousands of other ‘bad’ situations – I got bitter – real bitter – and planned my revenge. I hated the people who had wronged me. I blamed the situations and funnily enough I blamed ‘god’ who I was adamant didn’t exist. I hated his followers. Every. Single. One.
How could a ‘god’ allow this or that to happen to me? Well I am here to tell you that I now understand why. I have experienced His love and He has shown me that every single bad things was designed for my good! Every. Single. One.
It didn’t feel nice, it was easy to make bad decisions afterwards, it was painful. But each one led me closer & closer to calling on the only One who could save me. Unfortunately I was stubborn. Real stubborn. But, in His love, He kept allowing situations to bring me to my knees. My wrong choices, bad decisions, extreme reactions, the actions of others – He used them all. Every. Single. One.
The accumulation eventually got too much for me sometime in the year 2000, I sold up and went on a trip to end my life for good. Not ‘just’ making hundreds of decisions that would put me close to death or likely to die. This was a calculated and planned end to the pain & torment. I was forced to my knees.
Funny thing is – I felt better now. I was resolved & calm. I could enjoy life a little, spend some fo etc money I had worked & fought so hard for. It would all be over soon…
But in this state of being at my lowest, in this place of finality, I believe God planted a thought in my head:
“what if there IS a god”? I was about to end my life & didn’t know. I would find out. I bought $1000 worth of spiritual books from a variety of sources – turned out I only needed the One!
As I started reading the Bible with the attitude “are you there god”? I said a prayer:
“god if you are there I think you are terrible (more colourful language obviously) BUT if you can make something of my life you can have it. I have messed it up”
I didn’t think much of that ‘prayer’ I was just talking to no one – at least in my belief at that point. But the strangest thing happened. He started to talk to me through the Bible.
This (so I thought) old, outdated, incorrect religious history book was nothing like I thought. It wasn’t just incredibly wise advice. It was like it was God’s actual voice, His actual words TO ME!
It spoke to me at a level I had never comprehended. It answered my unspoken questions. It cut me like a knife. For 10 hours a day I could not put it down. The words did not ‘just’ speak to me – they somehow changed me. Every. Single. One.
The thing that started to stand out through everything I read:
the God who wrote this to me has every right and reason to hate & kill me, but He loves me powerfully, without reservation.
It broke me.
Big tough, can handle anything, can do anything, don’t need anything or anyone – crying like a baby.
The overwhelming awakening of a long-dead heart, one incapable of giving or receiving love, suddenly saturated with something I had never even realised was a possibility. But there was more.
I wept over all the bad things I had done – most of them deliberate, many against others, some against myself, but all against this God I never knew existed.
The strange (and possibly most powerful part of it all) was that I wasn’t just weeping from conviction / guilt of suddenly knowing what I had been doing for years was so wrong.
Not just from suddenly being aware I was about to jump of that beautiful looking cliff into a real, eternal, fiery lake (hell).
But from the realisation inwardly that Jesus went to the cross, all of the pain, naked, all of that shame, He went there willingly, on purpose FOR ME. He knew I was going to dismiss Him, diss Him and worse. But went anyway.
He had paid the price for ALL my sin. They were paid for in full. They were all gone. Every. Single. One!
Back to today, 20 years later, talking (or typing) about that reality, that experience still brings me to tears. And the lesson is STILL something I need to learn.
You see, the painful situations I have encountered this year I have inadvertently blamed on myself & others. I have failed to see that God, in His love, is still using situations for my good. Some of them are the consequences of my actions, my decisions and acting out of my unhealthy needs / desires. Some of them are due to the similar actions from others towards me and my family. Some of them are not from anybodies particular involvement at all.
But ALL of them have the potential to be used by God to get me to turn to Him. Every. Single. One.
And as I turn to Him I can see the purpose behind some of these situations – refinement. He is bringing things up that never would have been exposed had everyone done the right thing to / by me. They lay dormant, hidden and in my humans I could easily just blame others. But Instead He can use it for His Glory and my transformation. Each situation and wrong is an opportunity to pursue Him and seek forgiveness and/or transformation. Every. Single. One.
My prayer today and this year is that I (my family and you too!) would not just look out for Number 1 – but turn to Him.
He is Number 1
He always was, And always will be.
Acknowledge Him
Accept what He says
Follow His ways
But more than that: be with Him – now, today and every day.
Recognise that all the situations of 2020 are capable (and intended) to encourage you to do just that. And regardless of what 2021 brings, the same reality is true.
Number 1 is what counts!
Number 1 is not you (or me!). It’s the Creator of all. His name is Jesus.
Conclusion: Jesus is Number 1!
PRAYER: Lord, Help us not to look out for ourselves, but the true Number 1 – Your Son. Thank you for Your love and concern for us – sending Your only Son to pay the price for all our mistakes & sin. Help us to acknowledge all the situations that we go through are there to help us connect with You. Thank you for caring enough to and follow Him.
NOTES:
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.