There is a saying that God takes the lemons in our lives and makes lemonade out of them. That is so very true and also so very trite, but it goes deeper than that. God takes a situation that affects others as much as it does me, but the situation that has a negative effect on me may be to their benefit. For instance, the steady rainfall that makes my day a dreary mess, may benefit the farmer – my neighbor – and in a figure cause his day to be cheery and full of sunlight.
It seems, then, I shouldn’t pray for the Lord to hold back the literal rain in my life; that would adversely affect my neighbor whom I am supposed to love. Rather, I should pray for the will of God to be done in all things and then trust Him to make lemonade out of those things that seem so terribly negative.
When one football team prays for a win in their game with a rival team, and the rival team also prays for a win, to which team will God listen (if indeed either one is a team of Christians)? We have to stop being so self-absorbed as though the universe were in existence solely for us as individuals. Let’s take into account the broader view; consider that there is more to our world than us as individuals. Be aware there is the will of God somewhere in our changing fortunes and that what seems right for us at the moment may not be in line with God’s good pleasure.
Sometimes I think God has to be very patient with me. I have reached an advanced age in life and yet there are many things I have to relearn or be reminded of. But I take dubious comfort in the fact that we are all human, we are all slow learners and that is why God has given us preachers and pastors, prophets and teachers. They are not around merely to give us new “revelations”; they are here to prod us and edify us and to remind us of what some of us should have learned long ago. They are here to show us the old paths because God knows all too well how soon we forget.
So I, along with you, am learning and relearning the facts of spiritual life. I am reminded there is only one path to take in any situation, and that is the right path, which is the will of God for me at that moment. If I or you have prayed each day for God’s will to be done, we should then leave it all in the hands of God. He knows what He is doing.
A confession: I am what is charitably termed a man of wide mood swings in the sense that one moment I can feel euphoric, elated, blessed, whatever word you may use, and the next moment I can plunge into a doubting, severely depressed state of mind. I guess perhaps I am an incipient “manic-depressive.” Whatever the label is, it is my natural makeup and God has let me see it and deal with it.
I hope you are not that type of personality, but, whatever type personality you may be, you too will have your own moderate mood swings. Salvation was not meant to eliminate the highs and lows in our lives; it only gives us sufficient grace to deal with them.
If you are down, down, down over some big obstacle that has blocked your pathway to what you think to be the accomplishment of God’s will, remember it has been placed there for some good to ensue else God would not have permitted the obstacle to arise. Tighten your spiritual belt, take a deep breath and climb out of the Slough of Despond into which you are sinking and press on to do whatever you know to do – and pray, pray, pray, not necessarily for the obstacle to disappear (unless God directs your prayers that way), but that whatever God has intended for the temporary setback to accomplish in your life or that of someone else, will without fail be accomplished.
When we have that sort of attitude, the ups and downs and the highs and lows of life will not seem so devastating. We will realize they are only a part of the Christian life and we will, by the grace of God, successfully deal with them. And the name of God will surely be glorified.
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