Lam
3:17-18, 25-26, 38 (NIV) I have been deprived of peace;
I have
forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I
say, "My splendor is gone
and all
that I had hoped from the Lord."
. . .
25 The
Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the
one who seeks him;
26 it
is good to wait quietly
for the
salvation of the Lord.
. . .
38 Is
it not from the mouth of the Most High
that
both calamities and good things come?
NOTE: We much rather
quote verses 25-26 than 17-18. And yet,
Lam 3:32a says "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, …."
God brings or allows--it doesn't really matter, the result is the same--both
pain and good. I personally prefer
"allows" since we were the ones who chose to rebel against God in the
garden--we have what we thought we wanted.
Yet in the midst of the mess that we chose, God works. In Romans, Paul writes that "we know
that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." So while
my situation may not be directly from God, I am assured that he is working to
bring good out of it--at least to those who know him personally and love
him. Now, my situation may in fact be
directly from God, especially when God sees a need to discipline me. In which
case, verse 40 tells me to examine my ways, test them, and return to the
Lord. If I am in sin or living in
rebellion, I need to repent. But in any
case, I must seek God. And even more
importantly, I need to seek God in the good times as well as the hard times,
because that is the most important thing to do, and often times the bad times
are to remind me that I wasn't seeking God as I should in the good times.
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