By Pastor Andrew Farland
Have you ever waited for a long time to see the results of your hard work? Have you ever been anxious for a package or letter to show up at your door? Have you ever longed for someone in your life to make serious changes to his or her behavior? We’ve all been there. We’ve all, at some point, been forced to wait for something to happen.
It’s not easy. And, eventually, if we’ve waited for a long time, we start asking, “Why?”
When I was in Uganda serving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, God allowed me to be struck with depression. It caught me off guard because, I thought to myself, “Why would He let me go through this while I was serving Him so much? Why would He do this to me?”
Time went by and I had to travel back to the U.S. to work on the healing process. After a couple of years, and after I had time to reflect on my time in Uganda, I realized that I was trying to become someone God didn’t create me to be. I was doing mission work because I was trying to be the ideal Christian. In other words, I was driven not by God’s calling on my life, but by a superficial understanding of how Christians are supposed to act.
I needed God to force me out of Uganda and teach me that lesson.
I heard a story once of a farmer’s son who had been helping his family survive a tough harvest season by working for free on the farm. One day, while he was baling hay, the boy fell and broke his leg. Immediately, he questioned God, asking, “Why would you let this happen to me while I was helping my family?!” A week later, a military recruiter showed up at his doorstep to draft the boy into his mandatory military service. However, because of his broken leg, he was unable to serve.
Days later, the plane carrying all of the recruits from his hometown crashed and left no survivors. God let the boy get a broken leg. But, I can guarantee you that he was thankful he didn’t get on that plane.
Sometimes we think all bad things are tragedies, but later on, we can see that God was using them for our good. God is always working in our lives even if we can’t see it.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus.”
Be encouraged today because God is with you.
