The Highs and Lows

There are times in life when we go through highs as well as lows. So many times, especially as American Christians, we take for granted what we have. I have seen the ways in which God has grown me through the low times. Those times where our family didn't know where the next meal was coming from, or how we were going to pay the bills. Yet, we were never lacking. God has, and always will provide for us. He says in Matthew,

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

How then are we to complain about what we don't have or what we think we deserve? Rather it is a blessing and a lesson to be learned when we have naught and must continually seek God's face for what we need. Scripture says that we should not have to little that we curse God, but also not too much that we forget Him. Therefore, it is God who supplies all that we NEED each and every day. I think that we need to look to Him more often for the times that we feel like we have been abandoned or cast aside. It is then that we learn some of the deepest and sweetest lessons in life. Can we say that the apostle Paul did not benefit from the great trials that he faced throughout his life? Absolutely not!! By the end of his life he saw himself as most blessed for the sufferings and trials that he had faced for the cause of Christ. If we do not learn from the scriptures and see the many ways in which God cares for us, each and every day, we will be in trouble.

If God can provide for the animals of the earth, then how much more so for us. God has given us such great abilities, each differing from the next. Some of us He has given great physical prowess and ability, while other a mental capability that is beyond understanding. Yet, all these things are to work together to bring praise to His name and to cause one another to be a blessing to those around us. If we are seeking God's face and striving to become more like Him, it is then that we will be truly blessed. May God's love flow over and around each and everyone of you, bringing honor and glory to His name alone!!!