Will You Accept Both?

Is she praising God or crying out to Him in distress? It’s easy to gaze up toward heaven, open our arms wide, and say “Thank You, God!” when He blesses us. But how often do we open our arms, look up to heaven, and say “Go ahead, Lord, do what You must. Even if it hurts, I’ll take it in order to serve You.”

This morning, in my Streams in the Desert devotional, there were several sentences that caught my heart:

• “Yet even sorrow is not too high a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with Christ’s blessings. ~J.R. Miller”
• “God has chosen opposition as a catalyst to our faith and holy service.”
• Combat comes before victory. If God has chosen special trials for you to endure, be assured He has kept a very special place in His heart just for you. A badly bruised soul is one who is chosen.”

Consider these verses from the prophet Isaiah:

“Grain for bread is crushed. Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, he does not thresh it longer [than needed]. This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.” ~ Isaiah 28:28-29

Are you feeling crushed by hardship? Have you considered that God has chosen you to bear these particular burdens so that you are equipped to help others?

I’ll leave you to ponder this last quote from my Streams in the Desert devotional:

• “God has made me as bread for His Chosen ones, and if it is necessary for me to ‘be ground’ in the teeth of lions in order to feed His children, then blessed be the name of the Lord. ~Ignatius”

Will you look up to heaven, throw your arms open wide and say, “blessed be the name of the Lord” regardless of whether God pours out blessings or crushes you to make “bread” for His people?