(Be sure to read this all the way through so I’m not misunderstood.)
Several weeks ago, as we prepared for daughter Darcy and 22-month-old grandson Raphael to arrive, we laid out on the floor all the knives we could find and put ant poisoning in a dish for dinner, and….
Before I get too far fetched (I’m even making myself uncomfortable) I’ll stop there. Because, of course, as we made the house child proof, I took all the knives out of the lower drawers and put them high in the cupboard, we don’t have any ant poisoning around at all anyway and anything else that was dangerous, we removed. We even removed things that weren’t dangerous but he could damage. We made the house child proof so that we wouldn’t always have to be saying “No! No! Raffi, don’t touch that!” That’s no fun for anyone.
As I prepared the house, I remembered James 1:17 which says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (NKJV). God only allows good things in our lives. God removes everything from our lives that is not good for us (knives, ant poisoning, etc).
The problem is that when I experience something difficult (what seems like knives and ant poisoning), I conclude, “God, You didn’t keep your promise. This isn’t good for me.” And so, if He has allowed a trial, I don’t cooperate with His purifying process because it looks like a knife. If He has called me to do something in His name that is difficult or risky, I don’t cooperate because it feels like I will be eating ant poison.
But James 1:17 tells the truth: God only gives us good gifts.
You get the idea. If only I would see everything that God brings into my life, both difficulty and risky opportunity, as a good gift from God, I would be able to trust Him more and move into it with confidence. How about you? What looks like ant poisoning or like playing with a knife?
I love Raphael so much that I would never consciously or intentionally allow something dangerous. I never want to see him hurt. God loves you so much that He will never allow something dangerous. So if it looks dangerous–it’s not! Cooperate with God’s purifying and walk through those open doors–even trials. His gifts are always good.