Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

For All Intents And Purposes

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” – Psalm 57:2.

Watching the news is so discouraging. Tragedies abound. The deadly explosion during an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England yesterday is the latest example. The tragedies seem arbitrary and unnecessary. The same thing can be said about, on a much smaller scale, our individual lives.  Even though we are serving God with all our heart and spending more time in His word than ever, circumstances can seem to be getting worse not better. 

From our perspective, tragedies look meaningless and senseless and chaotic, but God knows how to take even tragedies and bring good out of them. The Bible reminds us that everything happens for a reason. The Bible says that God, “… makes everything work out according to his plan.” (Ephesians 1:11). This means that every event that occurs does so after God’s plan. God is not arbitrary. God specializes in taking evil and bringing good out of it.

Romans 8:28 tells us that “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  But do we truly believe God has a purpose for the tragedies we didn’t expect or planned for? When tragedy or suffering strikes, we intuitively wonder how God is going to help us. And we wonder how God is possibly going to work things together for good. And sometimes we wonder if God cares. 

The truth is God really does have a purpose for your pain because I believe that God can take everything in life and use it for His glory. I realize that hindsight truly is 20/20, and just because you don’t quite see the “good” in the bad in your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or won’t exist down the road. In fact, it may take years. God is trustworthy. We simply need to trust Him. 

Like so many things in this life, how we deal with heartbreak and with suffering, is often a heart issue. It is not the circumstance, but the condition of our heart that matters. God can work in our hearts through good times just as easily as bad times. It is not necessary for God to cause us tragedy in order to develop our character. Godly character can be developed through any kind of event, if we are willing to let God lead in our lives.

We all experience pain in life, whether emotional or physical pain. No pain is alike, we must all walk the journey and path that God has for our lives, yet God promises that there is a purpose in all pain, even if we have yet to realize it. He can redeem all things because He is the one who created all things. God can take our pain, our brokenness, our frustrations, our failures, and use them as the testimonies in which we help others.

Wednesday: God is Present in Your Pain.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you see as the main purpose in your life? What can God do that you can’t concerning your purpose? (This is where the faith comes in.)
  2. How is God glorified when you are following your purpose?
  3. How will following your purpose force you to trust God more?
  4. What is God asking you to do today?

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