Day 345 - When Life Is Not Working

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 62

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

Those of you who have known Michael for some time know his story about knowing the king of a village whose son was injured, and folks told the king:  “That is bad.”  The king said, “It might be bad, it might not.”  And the story goes on and on…every event leads to a corresponding, “It might be good, it might be bad.”

How are we, who know not the future…nor the total plan of God for our lives…to know whether something is “good” or “bad” if we are living in our natural mind we were born with?

But, thanks be to God, that He gave us the Mind of Christ when we were Born Again.  Now we can see how everything is “working out,” no matter whether our other mind considers it “good” or “bad.”

Michael hits the nail on the head when he draws our attention to our “judging” how things are going…this day’s writing should give much freedom to a lot of “judgers.”

Day 345

When Life Is Not Working

And after you have suffered for a little, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. --I Peter 5:10

I often hear someone say, “Nothing is working out!” That is never true for Christians, so they are only suffering from the lack of a doctrine that properly explains defeat, suffering, reversals, broken relationships, sickness, and disappointments. While it is obvious that many of the above are the result of sin, God is so big that He can use what we have done. I am not teaching that we sin so grace will abound, but neither am I saying that grace does not abound. When we bemoan how things are not working out, we have something we are judging those things against. Often we have judged them against what we believe would be “good things,” the opposite of which we call bad and “things not working out.” Let me illustrate. One thing we label “bad” and “things not working out” is seeing a child rebelling. It was bad that the Prodigal Son rebelled, took his inheritance money, and went away to squander it; however, the fact that he came to the end of himself and returned home, never to leave again, was actually “things working out.” We have a definition of the state comprising “things working out” and judge everyday life against it, but is our definition correct? Is it true that “things working out” never includes suffering, getting sick, having a conflict, being in want, or depression? If so, “things” certainly never “worked out” for Jesus! For me, “things” have worked out if at the end of the day I have lost my pride, my glory, my strength, my righteousness, and my kingdom, for those things hinder the free flow of the greatest treasure that is inside me: Christ in me, the hope of glory. I have found that as I have given the proper definition to “things working out,” nothing has gone wrong. When I judge what took place today against this model, things are working out perfectly. Can we yield to it? The proof that we have chosen God’s glory is that we shed ourselves of our own.

(underlining is my emphasis – Lee)

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point      Green – IT, Incredible Truth        

Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

It is absolutely phenomenal that EVERYTHING is always “working out” for every Christian.  Hallelujah!  God in His infinite wisdom has designed life where “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Well, amen.

The great apostle Peter, a great preacher of suffering and grace, tells us that God has “begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  He then goes on to tell us “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  Wow!  Oh, that we Saints could see all the events in our lives as simply a test of our faith.  And that all these tests are from God, and God never expects us to fail one test!

So, let us disciple the Saints so that none “lack of a doctrine that properly explains defeat, suffering, reversals, broken relationships, sickness, and disappointments.”  Until then, too many will live in the state of “judging.” 

There is great freedom, intense joy, and real peace in having the proper definition of things “working out” and truly experiencing that nothing has gone wrong.  Amen.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DESIRE TO INTERACT WITH ME ON SOMETHING MICHAEL HAS WRITTEN, AND/OR ANY OF MY THOUGHTS, PLEASE NOTE THE EMAIL ADDRESS JUST BELOW MY NAME AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS.

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

leemccm@gmail.com

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                          936-559-5696