I received a Christmas card over the holidays, and on the front of the card were young children dressed in white, playing cheerfully. The odd thing was that they each had red paint spattered all over their clothes and faces. I was intrigued by the outside of the card because it seemed an unusual scene for the season. I really didn’t understand the message, but when I opened it, the message was clear. The exact sentiment was, “life gets messy, try to find the victory in it all.” This really spoke to me.
It resonated so strongly in my heart because this is the way life sometimes feels. As Christians, we don’t always want people to see what lies beneath all the layers. We want folks to think that we have it all together, because somehow in all the teaching that many of us have received, we think we’re not allowed to show our humanness. We think we need to appear on top of our game at all times, but God always reminds us that it is because of Him that things come together for us. Without His covering, life will fall apart very quickly.
A notoriously wonderful verse in Romans 8:28 (NLT) says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” This is a tremendous comfort to us, but when we don’t have a sense that things are coming together as neatly and pristine as we would like, some of us lose it a little bit.
It’s those times when you’re expecting a relationship to grow into something beautiful, and he tells you that he’s not ready for anything serious, or that he only wants to be friends. It’s when you’ve had so much pressure on your finances, and the breakthrough you’ve been praying to receive looks as if it’s landed in your lap, but it turns out to be nowhere near what you were expecting. It’s those almost-there moments that can send your head spinning and set you back emotionally. They cause that seed of doubt to enter into our minds and hearts.
The reason that we lose heart about disappointments and setbacks is because we have an expectation that equals the greatness of God. This is a very excellent thing, but there is another extremely important factor that we should remember. It is the fact that you and I don’t get to quantify or qualify how God rewards us or how the victory will ultimately be revealed.
One of life’s lessons that we should have learned by now is that during the process of transformation and restoration, sometimes the pieces become shattered or scattered. Things look like one big mess, and we can’t see how anything redemptive can come out of them. This is truly a picture of who we are without Christ. Before he came into our lives, we were one big mess. Some of us don’t even want to remember who we used to be, because we were just that bad.
God stepped in and transformed us into the person we are today. We couldn’t have imagined that His love would turn us inside out and cause us to become virtually unrecognizable to our old selves, but this is what has happened. Lest we forget, this was a process that took time, and we’re still works in progress.
1 Peter 2:19-22 The Message (MSG) tells us:
“You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason. There’s no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God. This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.
Step by step is God’s process. It’s not on our schedule, it’s all up to Him. Life can be messy. Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to suffer, but disappointment and challenges are a part of life on earth, and our born-again status means that we must strive through every messy situation to live the kind of life that Jesus Christ lived. If we faint not and keep our eyes stayed upon him, we’ll find the victory in it all!■
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Victory Is Yours!”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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