Thankful Thursday: Scripture is Awesome

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There is always something to be thankful for in this life. Always. For that very fact, I am thankful, actually.

If God weren’t so good, my joy could not be full. Yet, I wake up and find that my joy is full, indeed, and the only reason I can point to this morning is my faithful, generous God.

I’ve been reading through the Bible – just straight through, no stopping – and He has been faithful to minister to me everyday. So, this morning, as I write this post, all I want to share with you are the Scriptures he has used this week to encourage and strengthen my faith.

• “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” ~1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
• “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” ~1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV)
• “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” ~2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NIV)
• “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The LORD works out everything for his own ends– even the wicked for a day of disaster.” ~Proverbs 16:3-4 (NIV)

Last, but not least, I had to share this one:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” ~2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV – emphasis mine)

So many people are convinced that God never gives us anything we cannot bear. That has never settled right in me, and I have learned why, over the years, as I read what His Word says. It says clearly in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that no temptation will be greater than we can bear, and that He will always provide a way to get out from under that temptation.

That seems really specific to me. I don’t think it applies to our normal troubles.

Read the above verse in 2 Corinthians. In verse eight, it clearly states that they were in trouble “far beyond their ability to endure.” Many, many times, we come in this life to trouble that is far beyond our ability to endure. As my family and I are in now.

I believe that it all is allowed and orchestrated to happen, so that we can learn to depend on God and not ourselves, for one thing. For another, it is so that the God of all comfort can comfort us, and that we, in our turn, can comfort others in any of their troubles. (See 2 Cor. 1:3-5 above.)

Impossible troubles come to all believers in Christ. Regularly. (John 16:33) And these troubles come, so that our faith can be strengthened in the God of the Impossible. Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) Nothing.

When I look around me, at everything going on in my life and in the world at large, my heart sinks. Then, I open the Word of God, and am comforted and brought back into a space of peace. Scripture is awesome in its ability to teach, admonish, encourage, strengthen, and even rebuke me. The God of all Comfort seems to use His written Word to remind me where my faith really lies.

In that reminder, I find rest.

Never will you hear me say that God won’t give me more than I can handle, because He already has. I cannot handle, on my own, everything that is going on right now. It is “far beyond my ability to endure.” I know my limits well, and God has made it clear that it is He who will carry me beyond them. In my weakness, He shows Himself strong to save. It is His endurance in me. His love. His light. His purpose working. I am dead to myself, and alive in Christ!

My troubles may come in this world, but I take heart – Jesus Christ has overcome the world.

For this one fact alone, I am thankful. For more thankful posts, or to participate yourself, visit Iris at Grace Alone this morning. What are you thankful for this week?

Grace & Peace,
Tiffany