Friday, October 15th – When Things Are Going Wrong

Have you ever suffered a setback? It is sometimes called a “reversal of fortunes.” Something good has turned bad, for many it was when the job they were so secure in closed and they joined the ranks of the unemployed. The loss of employment creates a severe setback. Loss of one’s health, unexpected doctor or hospital visits, having to pay outrageous prices for prescriptions can be a severe setback especially for those who are on a fixed income. Setbacks are common to all of us. All setbacks are by their very nature stressful.

Jacob said, “all these things are against me.” But as it turns out it was the best thing that could have happened to him. Jacob didn’t know it even as we sometimes fail to recognize it that all these things were working together for his good and the good of his family. Through our ignorance, misunderstanding, our mistakes, and the weakness of our faith, we often consider things to be against us that in reality are really for us. We are afflicted in body, finances, name, and relation- ships; and we think all these things are against us, whereas these are really working for us an eternal weight of glory.

Jacob knew his God and trusted his God but he did not know his God as we know Him today. We have the advantage of knowing Him by the revelation that has come to us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; through the teachings of Scripture and through the ministry, teaching, guidance, and comfort of the Holy Spirit. We have a hope that is described “. . . as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” (Hebrews 6:19). What blessed assurance this is.

When the dust of Jacob’s turmoil finally began to settle, it became increasingly clear that all these distressing events were actually intended for his ultimate good. They led to his move to Egypt where the Lord made his offspring into a great nation. Even though Jacob had declared that all these things were against him, from God’s standpoint everything was going for him.

Friends, when everything seems to be going wrong; dwell on the truth that “all things work together for good to those who love God” Romans 8:28. And so instead of complaining, you’ll be able to say confidently, “God is working for me!”