WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24
“perplexed, but not driven to despair;”
2 Corinthians 4:8 ESV
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN: STAY USABLE
Joni Earekson Tada was left a quadriplegic at the age of 17 after a diving accident. Joni later wrote, “While lunching at a friend’s house, I had to borrow a spoon and have her bend it so it could be inserted in my hand splint and I could feed myself. Throughout lunch, she glanced at the spoon. Embarrassed, I offered to have my husband straighten it out. Later I thought, isn’t that the way God works in our lives? He knows he can accomplish His unique plan when He bends us to suit His will. The metal of our souls may be difficult to bend, but when we allow God the privilege of shaping our lives, we discover new depths of purpose and meaning. We become perfectly suited for His use.” (Joni Eareckson Tada, Today’s Christian Woman, “Heart to Heart.”)
The Apostle Paul’s message was to not be afraid of difficult times. God may be using them to bend you, shape you, make you more usable. Perplexed means to be at a loss; to be in doubt or to be despondent. It suggests the idea of not knowing what to do next.
Don’t be surprised when those moments of life come when you feel like you don’t know what to do next. As Christians, we don’t have to have everything figured out. At the same time, we can know that God is always at work.
If you are going through a difficult season, ask God to mold you and use you in this season. Do you have others in your life going through a difficult season? Pray that God would mold them to look more like Jesus and use them for His purposes.
