When frustrating situations [1] come into our lives it’s tempting to become bitter and angry. But by looking past the pain we learn a very important lesson about God.
He is always faithful
Note I didn’t say the Lord gives us what we want because honestly He rarely does. Yet looking back on those situations we will always see the Lord doing what was best for us
The problem is in a frustrating experience we are so focused on what’s going wrong the blessings of God are completely overlooked.
But by listening very carefully we can hear the voice of God say “remember what happened last time?”
See God wants us in the midst of our trial to remember other painful circumstances that He brought us through faithfully.
I uploaded a short video yesterday about one of those frustrating experiences that brought God glory, but since it was such an important moment in my life I would like to share it here as well.
Dealing with An Unfixable Problem from John Wilburn on Vimeo.
About eight years ago while driving to a Church I ended up causing a serious traffic accident that completely totalled two cars [2]. Thankfully neither one of us were seriously hurt, but standing on the side of the road staring at what used to be my car I faced a unfixable problem.
Standing there I lifted my eyes to the Lord and in my heart said “Lord you are going to have to fix this.”
About a half hour later I was sitting in an emergency room were the doctor informed me a cut on the back of my head (the only serious injury) was going to need staples.
He proceeded to produce what looked like a staple gun that you would buy at an office supply store and put four staples in the back of my head. The crazy thing is, I had the peace of God in my heart.
- My car was gone
- My insurance was going to go through the roof
- A doctor was putting staples in my head
- And I felt God’s presence
Of course things aren’t always going to be that way [3] but in moments of frustration my mind goes back to that spot on the side of the road. And I remember even in hardship the Lord is still faithful.
All of us have experiences like mine (yours may not be as serious) were you had peace from God when life was anything but peaceful. These are emotional or spiritual anchors that we can focus on instead of the frustration of life.
An amazing thing happens when we take our eyes off the painful moment in time and start remembering all of the trials God brought us through. Instead of an opportunity for self-pity, our pain becomes an opportunity to praise God for His past victories, and expect a future deliverance.
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