5/31/2017 3:11:10 PM
A Hard Choice for Your Own Good
Sometimes we have to make a hard choice for the greater good. We may have to forego a nice promotion at work because the greater good is that we spend more time with family.
God has a greater good in mind for you. It is that you would live with him forever in heaven. But that greater glory that waits for us now is unseen. It is hidden in the struggles and difficulties of life. But it is through those very struggles and difficulties that God leads us to glory.
For example: on the one hand, we’re faced with the challenge of controlling our sexual urges and on the other is a world that gives us all kinds of excuses for giving in to lust. Or we look at our marriages and we struggle with our spouse because we want it to go my way—not her way, not his way—as if we live in competition with each other. We are presented with a variety of entertainment choices some are vulgar, violent and disgraceful. At other times, we look at the struggles and difficulties of life and we resent them and curse God in our hearts for letting us suffer.
In those situations we can’t always say we were seeking God’s glory. We can’t really say that we are seeking something better when we look to satisfy our own desires first. Instead of God’s glory we are seeking our own. God has a word for that: idolatry. And God promises that no idolater has eternal life.
One day, Jesus looked Satan in the face and said, “It is written: worship the LORD your God and serve him only!” (Matthew 4:10) Jesus understood that his job was to bring God the glory that you and I can’t bring on our own. He took God’s demand to be glorified in this world by the thoughts, words and actions of his people and did that very thing. And his perfect service is granted to all of us who believe in him. Our idolatry is forgiven, we are not condemned but through Jesus’ blood we are saved.
And through this forgiveness, we gain joyful trust. We know that to serve the LORD is the right thing to do. We know that even if the way of Jesus is littered with difficulty, rejection and sadness that ultimately the joy and peace that is hidden now will soon be seen. So with that in mind, go and live beyond yourself. Put away your selfishness and pride. Serve God. And in that joyful trust, seek what is best.