"God Raises up the Humble"

PSALMS 113

 It might be hard to see sometimes how God's love is manifested in our circumstances and through our adversities, but without these things happening in and through our lives the real glory of God's love and affection could not be realized in our eternal existence, deep down in our soul. When things are going great and everything in my life is running smoothly, my relationship with God is not as strong as when things are a mess or there is some kind of trial I am going through. That is what trials do to us, they make us humble, they make us realize how much we need God's protection and hand upon our lives. Without trials and adversities, our need to call out for God is less than it is with them; we get comfortable and feel safe, even though we are vulnerable and tragedy could be just around the corner. That was another thing that Pastor Rick exposed to us: We will be exposed to tragedy! It is going to happen, there is no way to avoid tragedy from happening in our lives, because sooner or later someone you know is going to be taken, sooner or later, someone you love is going to be stricken, and sooner or later tragedy will come upon your life. Everyone must face it, sooner or later; but, for those that have the right perspective, a tragedy is an opportunity to witness the glory of God. It is not about us, it is about God's glory and the manifestation of His love. We are only able to see part of the picture, so it is hard for us to understand the reason and the purpose in all that He does. Even when we think we have it figured out, our reasoning falls short of seeing all that He is doing. His plan and purpose goes far beyond our earthly existence; that is why we must try to remain humble, we are just a very small part of His eternal plan...

"For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:6-10) NLT