"God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.
I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.
Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.
Chorus:
O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold."
Rejoice in the Lord by Ron Hamilton
So today in chapel we had a singspiration, something know to the rest of the world as a song service. For you who still have no idea what I talking about: today in chapel we did not have someone preach but we spent the whole time singing praises and hymns. This was one of the songs that we sang. As I am sitting there singing this song my mind starts to wander and think about what is it that I am saying, so I thought I would share those thoughts with you.
"God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.
O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold."
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " When people we know are going through hard times or a test of faith it is easy for us to tell them this. It is easy to stand on the outside and encourage people to trust in God and that he knows what He is doing.
"I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.
O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold."
Over the last few years as different things happened to my family I would use words or phrases similar to those in this verse and chorus to encourage myself to hold on to God that he is not done with my family and He knows what he has in store for us and why those things happened to us and when they happened. This verse also reminds me that when I am in a test of faith or the circumstances around me case the way to be unclear that I need to look to the cross and to Jesus like we are commanded to do in Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. " When I look unto Jesus it helps me to rejoice in the fact that God makes no mistakes and He is still in control.
"Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.
O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold."
Now we get to where I am (ish). After the trial is over we are able to look back and praise God for all that He taught us as we went though the trial. We are able to see how God has grown us and changed us to more like His son. Now is stead of using the words of the chorus remind and encourage me, I can sing them with conviction and knowing that they are true and a deeper understanding for that they are saying.
In closing the last 2-3 years have been hard on my family with deaths of people we hold dear and those we wish we could have met, but now we are looking forward to some happy times and we know that God is good through it all the good and the bad.
Well I should go do homework now but I would like to leave you with this thought "God is good even on a Monday" to quote a friend of mine Mary Davis (aka "Munchie") .
