A few weeks ago I was at an early prayer meeting with some fellow believers on the construction site that I am currently working on. It was the first meeting of what I hope will be many. One of the things that we prayed for is that God would keep everyone safe and that no one would be injured. Well later that day we had a first aid incident with one of the people that works for me. He is fine and only suffered a little discomfort. But still, even after we had prayed for God to protect us on the job, an injury had occurred the very same day.
So what are some of the conclusions that can be drawn from this? Did we not have enough faith when we prayed? I really don't think that is the case. Was the attack from the enemy that much stronger to discourage us? It's possible. Was the severity of the injury reduced because of our prayer? Again, it’s possible.
Here is what we know, God in his power and wisdom allowed it to happen, which means that the individual who was injured, was within God’s will. Here is the point: my employee put himself in a situation that allowed him to be injured. (I don't want to get into details on the injury because it is not relevant to the point that I am making. You will just have to trust me when I tell you his actions contributed to the injury.)
Throughout our days we make several decisions; some are meaningless and insignificant while some are big and potentially life changing. When we make a decision to sin, there are going to be consequences, and God is under no obligation to rescue us from those consequences. He may decide to intervene and He may not. His will is perfect, ours is not. We should strive to align our will with God's. There is no problem with asking God to deliver us from those consequences, but His answer may be, “no.” It could be that God wants to strengthen us through these hardships, and when the time is right, according to His will, He will deliver us from them. We may not be delivered from them in this life. Rather than question our faith or God's grace, we would be better off asking ourselves how we can glorify God in our current situation.
Here is the good news though. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ (that He came to this
earth as the perfect sinless Lamb of God and died for your sins), then the ultimate consequence of your sin (death and hell) will be covered by His righteousness; you will then stand before the throne and be found faultless and made whole. The blip of our time here on earth will be a distant memory, and we will live in the presence of God for eternity.
So what are some of the conclusions that can be drawn from this? Did we not have enough faith when we prayed? I really don't think that is the case. Was the attack from the enemy that much stronger to discourage us? It's possible. Was the severity of the injury reduced because of our prayer? Again, it’s possible.
Here is what we know, God in his power and wisdom allowed it to happen, which means that the individual who was injured, was within God’s will. Here is the point: my employee put himself in a situation that allowed him to be injured. (I don't want to get into details on the injury because it is not relevant to the point that I am making. You will just have to trust me when I tell you his actions contributed to the injury.)
Throughout our days we make several decisions; some are meaningless and insignificant while some are big and potentially life changing. When we make a decision to sin, there are going to be consequences, and God is under no obligation to rescue us from those consequences. He may decide to intervene and He may not. His will is perfect, ours is not. We should strive to align our will with God's. There is no problem with asking God to deliver us from those consequences, but His answer may be, “no.” It could be that God wants to strengthen us through these hardships, and when the time is right, according to His will, He will deliver us from them. We may not be delivered from them in this life. Rather than question our faith or God's grace, we would be better off asking ourselves how we can glorify God in our current situation.
Here is the good news though. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ (that He came to this
earth as the perfect sinless Lamb of God and died for your sins), then the ultimate consequence of your sin (death and hell) will be covered by His righteousness; you will then stand before the throne and be found faultless and made whole. The blip of our time here on earth will be a distant memory, and we will live in the presence of God for eternity.