You have problems, but you have a good God. God is not the one sending misery and sadness into your life. God’s not putting crosses on you, requiring any extra payment for sin. Jesus has paid it all. And Jesus came that we might have “life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That same verse speaks of the thief, or devil, who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy.” So it’s time to quit blaming God for your troubles, and start aligning with Him to stand against the real culprit.
You have problems, but you’ll get through. God is in the business of deliverance. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Ps. 34:19). Instead of resigning to misery as your lot in life, trust God with this promise. Don’t think that you’re not righteous, because in Christ, you are. Through Jesus, we receive HIS righteousness as a gift. It’s not according to our works or our lack of works. It’s all according to this: that God “made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Sound too good to be true? That’s how God is—more than good to us.
You have problems, but your biggest problem has been solved. Over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God, was offered up on behalf of the human race. He became a perfect sacrifice and “bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). What law and religion was unable to do, Christ accomplished: the reconciliation of man to God. You who were under divine condemnation, without hope, and unable to stand before a holy and Almighty God, were brought near to Him in grace by the blood of Jesus.
Your biggest problem was spending an eternity separated from God, with nothing to live for but this life and its brief pleasures. The trials of this world were only the forerunners of greater woes to be met with in the age to come. There was nothing you could do to fix your mess, but Jesus fixed it for you.
He fixed it so that you could receive everlasting life! You could become a beloved child of the Father, who wills only good for you, and who has prepared a place for you to share in His glory throughout eternity! You can rejoice in the knowledge that all wrongs will be righted. All tears will be wiped away. There will be no more pain nor curse. You don’t have to face the wrath that is going to come. Your biggest problem has been solved!
Yes, you still have problems, but they don’t have to have you. God has you. Do you have Him?
Copyright © Rick Bell
All rights reserved.
Rick is a writer, speaker, teacher, and minister who has lived and served overseas since 1995. In late 2013, he moved back to America, but continues to travel and work with pastors and leaders across the world.
His passion is to build others up with the life-changing truths of God’s grace and love.
