God Desires Happy Endings - Psalms 126-128 and I Corinthians 10:19-33
Like I said yesterday, life is hard. Things do not always go smoothly. There are ups and downs. There are many challenges. We have set backs, and we have unexpected blessings. Through all of the challenges of life, God wants us to come to a good conclusion. God desires for us to have happy endings or satisfying results. How is your life going? Do you see progress? Do you see happy endings? I believe that is what God will give, when we trust Him and follow His ways.
These three psalms give us some good examples. Psalm 126 is an expression of joy over the return of the Jews form the Exile in Babylon. They may have gone out with tears, but they are returning with joy. It may have started out badly, but it is ending very well. What a joy to know that even when God has to punish us, He wants to bring us back to a time of rejoicing in life. Psalm 127 rejoices about how God builds a family or a house. Those who trust in Him can rest in the knowledge that God desires to bless the children and to send them out into the world to accomplish His will. Raising children is a challenge. It is tough. However, if we keep in mind that if we do it God's way, He will bring a happy ending, we have a great motivation to trust Him through it all. The same is true of our work in life, our vocation. Sometimes, it is very hard, but it is a joy to sit down and eat the labor of your hands. It is great to see God bless you and to build up your wife and family through the resources He provides. I am convinced that God wants us to have happy endings.
I Corinthians 10 finishes up with a discussion of eating meat offered to idols. The main point is not to harm others by what we eat or what we do. God wants to edify others through us, not tear them down. That is happy endings. God wants to build people up through us, so we can look back and see that we have helped them, instead of hurt them. The only way we can do that is by trusting God and living in His power. However, He will help us do that, because He wants to see everyone saved and built up to be more like Jesus. Then, even at the end of a person's life, we can look back and see how God has worked to bring them to Himself, to save them from their sins, to make them like Jesus, and to take them to heaven. That is the ultimate happy ending.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 129-131 and I Corinthians 11:1-16.
These three psalms give us some good examples. Psalm 126 is an expression of joy over the return of the Jews form the Exile in Babylon. They may have gone out with tears, but they are returning with joy. It may have started out badly, but it is ending very well. What a joy to know that even when God has to punish us, He wants to bring us back to a time of rejoicing in life. Psalm 127 rejoices about how God builds a family or a house. Those who trust in Him can rest in the knowledge that God desires to bless the children and to send them out into the world to accomplish His will. Raising children is a challenge. It is tough. However, if we keep in mind that if we do it God's way, He will bring a happy ending, we have a great motivation to trust Him through it all. The same is true of our work in life, our vocation. Sometimes, it is very hard, but it is a joy to sit down and eat the labor of your hands. It is great to see God bless you and to build up your wife and family through the resources He provides. I am convinced that God wants us to have happy endings.
I Corinthians 10 finishes up with a discussion of eating meat offered to idols. The main point is not to harm others by what we eat or what we do. God wants to edify others through us, not tear them down. That is happy endings. God wants to build people up through us, so we can look back and see that we have helped them, instead of hurt them. The only way we can do that is by trusting God and living in His power. However, He will help us do that, because He wants to see everyone saved and built up to be more like Jesus. Then, even at the end of a person's life, we can look back and see how God has worked to bring them to Himself, to save them from their sins, to make them like Jesus, and to take them to heaven. That is the ultimate happy ending.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 129-131 and I Corinthians 11:1-16.