Scripture: Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples. Make them remember that His name is exalted. Praise the LORD in song, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known throughout the earth. (Isaiah 12:4-5 NASB)
This builds upon Give Thanks in Good and Bad Times (Part 1) and (Part 2)
Not Abandoned
Years ago, Pastor Steve Brown was driving and saw a super-ugly car. It had a large hole on one side and one door was held on with wire. The muffler dragged on the road and when it hit a bump, it sent sparks flying in every direction. Steve couldn’t tell the original color of the car. The rust had eaten away lots of paint and metal, and the rusted spots had been painted over with many different colors. The car had a bumper sticker on the back: “This is not an abandoned car.”
Steve reminds us that we live in a very fallen world, and sometimes it looks as ugly as that old car. We see tragedy and heartache everywhere and headlines warn of looming disasters. The world was like that also when the Son of God came down to be born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. But Jesus Christ was and still is God’s sign that: Our World Is Not Abandoned.1
Jesus Has Come
In Luke chapter 2, the angel said: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Then many other angels joined in praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”2
Christians celebrate the coming down of Christ all year long to combat the world’s worries, sadness, and ugliness. God has not abandoned us, beloved. Someday, Jesus our Lord, Savior, and Owner will return, and make right all that is wrong.
Isaiah says: The Lord will surely comfort us and will look with compassion on us. His will give us joy and gladness, thanksgiving and the sound of singing….The Lord will swallow up death forever. He will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth….Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter the heavenly city with singing. Everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 51:3, 25:8, 35:10)
Proverbs says: A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance….People with a merry heart have a continual feast….A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.3
- Christians can be merry because Jesus came in history. (Past)
- Merry because He keeps coming to bless us. (Present)
- Merry because Christ is coming back again to set all things right. (Future)
Give Thanks in Hard Times Too
Ecclesiastes 7:14 says: When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
Here are more Scriptures that teach the same:
Job 2:10 Job says: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?
Job 1:21 Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.
Deuteronomy 32:39 There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand.
1 Samuel 2:6-8 The Lord brings death and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth. He humbles and He exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them with princes and to inherit a throne of honor.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.
Happy hours and sunny days are the Lord’s good gifts to us, so let’s never forget to thank Him and rejoice. But the good times don’t last forever here on earth, so God urges us to remember that both merry and miserable moments come from Him. Bad times in Ecclesiastes 7:14 covers all negative situations: sad, painful, hurtful, disagreeable, displeasing, and distressing things. Hard times are when we have something we don’t want (sickness, unemployment, loneliness) or don’t have what we do want (health, success, happiness).
In the book, When God Weeps, Steve Estes writes that the Lord doesn’t let Satan prowl about totally unrestricted. God doesn’t have a hands-off policy of governing. He’s not our planet’s absent landlord. Rather, the Lord screens the trials that come to each of us—allowing only those that accomplish His good plan, because God loves us and takes no joy in human agony.4
God the Holy Trinity is Still in Charge
Jesus says: “I give My followers eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand.”5 Everything that comes against us has to go through Christ before getting to us. All that comes our way He sifts, through His loving and powerful hands. In the difficult times, Jesus calls us to keep our eyes on Him, not our troubles. Whatever the test, Christ is committed to helping us overcome.
The Apostles experienced this wide range of bad times and said: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, a whenever you face trials of many kinds….In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials….And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”6
That last verse is especially encouraging. True victory in bad times comes from trusting that God is working behind the scenes to unfold His wonderful plans for us. No matter what our troubles, let’s remember that He is the God of all grace. All the Lord’s dealings with us are not based on what we deserve, but on His eternal saving love to us. Since God is for us and has marked us out for Himself, no one or no things can succeed against us.7 Since the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are powerfully, wisely, and lovingly guarding us, nothing can defeat His program.
To be continued.
Notes: 1 Jumping Hurdles, Hitting Glitches, and Overcoming Setbacks (1992), p. 62-63. 2 Luke 2:10,14. 3 Prov 15:13,15, 17:22 NKJV. 4 Joni E. Tada and Steve Estes, When God Weeps (1997), p. 56. 5 John 10:28. 6 James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6, 5:10. 7 Rom 8:31.