Romans 8:28-39
Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s it all for?”?
“Why does everything I hope for never happen?”
“Why do I have to make so many compromises to my dreams, always experiencing second best?”
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do I bother?”?
Why bother being kind when the overwhelming response is contempt and hatred? Nobody likes a busy body…….. do they???
People who show a complete disregard for others lives and toss them aside like a used sweet wrapper. How angry does that make you feel?
Pictures in the media show an emancipated child with xylophone ribs holding out an empty bowl, while our world leaders are literally throwing away grain for economic reasons. Does that distress you?
Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s it all for?”?
Have you ever questioned the reality of an immortal invisible God?
I have!!!
In the face of life’s misfortunes and calamities do call out in anguish and despair, “Whose side are you on?”
Do you long to see an end to heartache, injustice, poverty, hatred, war. . . . .
I do!
So what is God’s reply?
How does he answer our plea?
Does he hear or ignore; act or do nothing?
Or are we expecting God to mop up our mess because we don’t know how to deal with it?
We have all either had, are going through, or know we will face, unfaceable problems for which there seems no painless solution. Still we sometimes blame God and say, “He has turned his face against us!” when the truth is, IT IS US WHO HAVE TURNED AGAINST GOD!
Whose side are WE on?
As a teacher I sometimes get problems brought to me. Some may be trivial, others quite serious, but all are important because to that student it’s a matter of life and death!! Hearing the problem is the easy part. It soon becomes complicated when it’s obvious the student wants me to take sides against another student, or even a fellow teacher. Now what should I do?
Let’s briefly consider this story of Joshua on the verge of attacking Jericho. So far everything was going well. They’d won many battles, crossed the River Jordan and had tasted the land of ‘milk and honey’ for the first time; but ahead loomed the mighty walls of Jericho. How could Joshua defeat such a stronghold?
One day Joshua was probably reviewing the situation when he saw a warrior. So he asked them the famous question, “Friend or Foe?” and the curious answer was, “Neither!”
How is it possible to be on neither side? Why does the commander of God’s army choose to take neither side? Is God really impartial when his people need him?
This brings me back to my pupil . . . . .
Whose side should I take; the victim or the accused?
Who is right? Who is wrong?
The answer in Joshua’s case was that God favoured neither side because both sides are his creation, as we too are God’s creation and he loved both sides, just as he loves us all. BUT HE HAS EXPECTATIONS!
We must love him above all else and love each other equally.
Jericho’s problem was they didn’t love God, they worshipped idols, so the walls of doubt and apostasy must come tumbling down so that God’s true nature could be seen.
The warrior was on God’s side. He didn’t place one principality over another. He served no kingdom gained by human endeavour. He served the living God.
As the story of Joshua unfolds we see how when Joshua sought to be on God’s side he defeated many stumbling blocks that stood in the way of God’s kingdom on earth. But when he turned away from God the wall began to raise once more.
We too have to break down or push aside the stumbling blocks in our lives. We have to defeat the stumbling blocks of doubt, hat, deceit, falsehood, greed, selfishness, envy and any such vices that would block out God’s will for us. How are we expected to see God’s promised land, if there is a mountain of confusion obscuring our view?
Let me give you an illustration of what I mean . . . .
Some years ago Tamara and I bought a house. It was a new house. We watched it being built. Decorated it, furnished it and everything looked good until you ventured into the back garden. Or should I say jungle! So I hacked it down, raked it over, sowed the grass seed, watered it and waited . . . .
Then at last some green shoots emerged. They grew strong and vibrant and before you knew it . . . . I was hacking the jungle down again. Not a blade of grass in sight!
Was it the seed that was bad or was it the soil?
The seed was guaranteed, it said so on the packet, and surely if weeds could grow with such vigour then the soil must be fertile. All things considered the seed should have grown.
So what had I done wrong?
You’ve got it! The reason the weeds came back is because I never dug them up in the first place. So when the shoots of good seed sprung up the were starved and choked by the well established weeds.
I hadn’t prepared the soil properly!
How true this is of our lives. We don’t prepare the fabric of our lives properly. We don’t always dig out the weeds that would choke us. We often cling on to the very things that drag us down and cause us to cry out to God, “Whose side are you on?”
So let’s concentrate on preparing the soil of our lives thoroughly. We need to dig out the weeds that cause us to stumble and obscure our view so that we can achieve our full potential as servants of God’s kingdom. Don’t be deterred.
Talk to God; share your life with Him. Don’t just request things when they are needed. Tell Him about everything. When you’re happy or sad, excited or dejected. Be grateful for all He is and has done and will do. Choose to be on God’s side and things will gradually fall into perspective.
Read about God in the Bible. Learn about how others discovered the nature of our Creator and share in the life He gives today. Rediscover Jesus again and cherish Him in your heart. How can we even begin to know the reality of God if we only peer through the letter box? Open the door of life and experience the tangible God. Reach out and touch Him. Let His love enfold you and know the truth of the words of Paul that . . .
Neither death nor life,
Neither angels nor demons
Neither present nor future, nor any powers,
Neither height nor depth,
Nor anything else in all creation
Shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Though the complexities of our life may seem unfathomable, hold on to those words, “Nothing shall separate us from the love of God.
Make ready the soil of your lives and it will allow the seed of God’s unfathomable love to bear fruit the like of which you have never seen or dreamt of.
“What’s it all about?”
“Why do I bother?”
We can defeat such sayings when we are on God’s side. If we act in the will of God we are more than conquerors because any problem will seem as nothing when compared to the joy of knowing that God will never leave us nor will anything ever take God’s love for us away.
Choose to follow God with all your strength
And he will make sense of this crazy world.
Choose to follow Jesus to become more like Him
And the person you become will draw people to you.
Choose to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through life
And you will never be alone.
Let’s make a difference in this hurting world by sharing Jesus in al we are. Offer life to everyone.