2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB
I like how the passage above from 2 Corinthians is worded. Basically, it’s telling us that our stories, struggles, and afflictions are a significant tool God uses to provide comfort to others.
Authenticity is critical to being at and bringing peace to your circumstances. God is very clear that we are to keep focused on Him, doing what we do to please ONLY Him. When we make choices that are geared towards pleasing anyone other than God, we are placing the opinions of those others above His.
When we are staying focused on pleasing Him, we will have a light to our spirits which will naturally draw others to us. We are all in constant craving of Him and the home we have with Him. So much so that we can easily spend, and lose, our lives to the constant effort of quenching that craving with things of the world.
Sadly, it never works. We may feel happy and secure for a time, but when we’re buoyed up by the world, we’ll always fall when another shoe drops. Nothing this world has to offer will keep that craving satisfied. Only living a life fully entrusted to the hands of God can do that.
“Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
Psalm 34:5
All of this goes back to the importance of not hiding our scars and our mistakes and our pain. Just spend a few minutes watching the news and you’ll see evidence of a nation in pain, but also what it looks like when that pain turns into anger and goes completely unchecked.
When I allow the pain I feel over circumstances in my life, past or present, gain control and take up room in my conscious mind, that pain becomes bitterness and anger. This will always be the result of making my life about me and not God.
When my goal is to please God, my worldly circumstances become nothing more than a conduit through which I can strive to do so. If the circumstances involve pain and discomfort (no matter what form that takes), then I am to walk through them in faith so that I will be equipped to help others do the same.
God doesn’t care what I look like, how much I weigh, where I come from, or what my human skin looks like. If I am reflecting His light, walking His path, and choosing His way, then I am His and part of the body of Christ.
When I look to the future and fear what might lay ahead, I’m reflecting the dark doubts of the world, instead of the light-filled hope of the Lord.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Love the Hand of God 