On a trip from Virginia to New Hampshire a loved one noticed that the backlight on her car radio stayed on even when the radio was turned off. Since she recently had to replace her car battery due to something staying on (but blessings—one month before the warranty expired) she decided to get the radio fixed.
She also told her mechanic the car shimmied when braking and he found a failing ball joint. Her mechanic told her that if the ball joint had failed, she would have lost control. So it was a matter of life-injury-death!
Connecting the Dots
In this situation, the dots are easy to follow: because she’d recently had to replace her battery she was sensitive to the backlight on the radio staying on, because the backlight on the radio was staying on, the damaged ball joint was discovered and fixed. A potentially serious accident was prevented. So praise God for the problem with the radio.
While this situation is easy to track through to clear benefits, the same principle holds for all the irritants (and blessings) in our lives, even the ones that seem—or are─horrible. God promises to work all things to the good. He usually doesn’t tell us why, perhaps because Romans 8:29 already tells us why (because He is conforming us to the image of His Son). Whether we know why or not, His promise holds to cause “all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Cultivate Thanksgiving
We need to cultivate continual thanksgiving for whatever comes our way because we can trust that our loving Father is in control and because we know that He will keep His promise of working everything to the good for us who know Him and are called according to His plan.
There is no need to ask why. But I think it is a faith builder to ask Him to show us the good results as they work out. For example, “Ah, yes, I am definitely am listening to You better,” or “Yes, I can see that I am more patient when…,” or whatever.
Instead of asking why, I think we should ask what and how. Lord what am I to do with this situation? How can I glorify You?
Today, I am praising God for a minor car problem that prevented a possible disaster.
