God WILL Work Things Out
One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried pitifully as the farmer tried to figure out how to get him out. After fretting in vain for a solution, the farmer decided that the humane thing to do was to fill the well with dirt. The donkey would be out of his misery; moreover the farmer had previously planned to fill in the well.
He asked his neighbors to come over and help. They presently grabbed shovels and began dumping dirt into the well. Realizing that he was being buried alive, the donkey cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.
As the neighbors continued shoveling dirt into the well, the farmer glumly glanced down at the doomed donkey. What he saw, however, flabbergasted him. Whenever a shovel full of dirt fell on the donkey, he shook it off and stepped up on the growing heap. Within an hour, the farmer and his neighbors happily witnessed the donkey step over the edge of the well and trot over to his water trough. In the end, the farmer had his donkey back AND was able to fill in the abandoned well.
**************************************************************
The aforementioned story brings to mind a well-known Bible passage – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” [Rom. 8:28]
Which is another way of saying that God is able to turn even the most challenging problems into positive blessings for the faithful. Below are two Bible examples:
Due to the jealousy of his brothers, Joseph was nearly murdered, and then sold into slavery. Things only got worse when he arrived in Egypt. He ended up being imprisoned for a crime for which he was wrongly accused. Despite overwhelming hardship, Joseph later commented, “…you meant evil against me; but GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” [Gen. 50:20]
In Acts 7, a courageous Christian named Stephen preached to a group of hostile Jews. Not liking the message, they turned on Stephen, stoning the defenseless disciple to death. One of the Jews that witnessed the slaying was Saul of Tarsus. Despite the fact that Stevens’s execution led to even more persecution, it sparked something inside of Saul. That spark fanned into an inferno of guilt when Saul heard the voice of Jesus while he was traveling to Damascus. Although the martyrdom of Stephen was tragic, he went to a better place, and Saul became one of the world's greatest gospel preachers!
Trials, adversities and persecutions will afflict every believer – Jn. 16:33, 2 Tim. 3:12. But God not only can work things out for good, He has promised to do so!
Jesus, always Jesus!
Dennis
One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried pitifully as the farmer tried to figure out how to get him out. After fretting in vain for a solution, the farmer decided that the humane thing to do was to fill the well with dirt. The donkey would be out of his misery; moreover the farmer had previously planned to fill in the well.
He asked his neighbors to come over and help. They presently grabbed shovels and began dumping dirt into the well. Realizing that he was being buried alive, the donkey cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.
As the neighbors continued shoveling dirt into the well, the farmer glumly glanced down at the doomed donkey. What he saw, however, flabbergasted him. Whenever a shovel full of dirt fell on the donkey, he shook it off and stepped up on the growing heap. Within an hour, the farmer and his neighbors happily witnessed the donkey step over the edge of the well and trot over to his water trough. In the end, the farmer had his donkey back AND was able to fill in the abandoned well.
**************************************************************
The aforementioned story brings to mind a well-known Bible passage – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” [Rom. 8:28]
Which is another way of saying that God is able to turn even the most challenging problems into positive blessings for the faithful. Below are two Bible examples:
Due to the jealousy of his brothers, Joseph was nearly murdered, and then sold into slavery. Things only got worse when he arrived in Egypt. He ended up being imprisoned for a crime for which he was wrongly accused. Despite overwhelming hardship, Joseph later commented, “…you meant evil against me; but GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” [Gen. 50:20]
In Acts 7, a courageous Christian named Stephen preached to a group of hostile Jews. Not liking the message, they turned on Stephen, stoning the defenseless disciple to death. One of the Jews that witnessed the slaying was Saul of Tarsus. Despite the fact that Stevens’s execution led to even more persecution, it sparked something inside of Saul. That spark fanned into an inferno of guilt when Saul heard the voice of Jesus while he was traveling to Damascus. Although the martyrdom of Stephen was tragic, he went to a better place, and Saul became one of the world's greatest gospel preachers!
Trials, adversities and persecutions will afflict every believer – Jn. 16:33, 2 Tim. 3:12. But God not only can work things out for good, He has promised to do so!
Jesus, always Jesus!
Dennis
RSS Feed