It's All In God's Hands

How often are we quick to give the devil credit for the work of God? I've often heard people talk about how they've been oppressed by Satan: broke, tired, depressed, lonely, etcetera. Do we ever stop to think that not only "can God make something good of our situation", but that He very well may literally have put us in it in the first place? Most certainly He has allowed us to be placed into whatever situation we are in.

1 Samuel 2:6-7 doesn't say that God can use poverty, death, or humility; it says God brings it. God has it in His power to give us these things to teach us, to guide us, and to prepare us for His use. Nothing happens to us without God not only knowing about it, but also allowing it in the first place. At any moment, God, in His sovereignty, could grant each of us all of the great things we want for ourselves. It is in His hands that we go through anything that we do.

Many times throughout the years I've questioned why I had to endure a particular thing, why I must endure so great a hardship. As time has gone on though, I've seen almost every single one of the things that I've gone through turn out to be a part of God's divine plan for my life. I've seen where I've been able to help someone else because of something that I've suffered. I've seen where my sicknesses or afflictions have caused someone else to draw close to God.

Often, we never see the full effect that the various paths our lives take have on others. We should always be careful in our response to bad times though, and consider them as something to learn from. We should consider each trial an opportunity to exalt God. Let us always give God the glory first, even when things aren't going the way we think they should.