God Will Make This Happen

There are phases in life. At times, life is so glorious we even make it to church on time, and McDonald’s® gets our order right. We usually are unaware of the bliss of these times. It is those other times. Those times when you sit at night, in a corner chair, and question how long you can go on before facing a divorce and/or bankruptcy. And you wonder, “Where is God¹?” You may be surprised, but you are nearer to Him during these times of pressure than at almost any other time.

Proven Faith

God is near you because of what you don’t do; you don’t give up. Not giving up on God while under great difficulties or in spiritual deserts is how your faith is proved. This kind of proven faith pleases God. It’s not what you’ve said, good or bad, but it is that you, in your most secret place, trust God. And it is because of this truth that God has made you a partaker of this promise:

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

God has declared to you, “God will make this happen.” God is not weak, or distracted, or distant. It was no coincidence when you showed your love for Him by receiving the incomprehensible sacrifice made on the cross by His Righteous, only begotten Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior. So, He will “make this happen” for you. Do you remember what “this” is? It is to “make you holy in every way.”

For Such a Worm as I

From the hymn, “Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed,” by Isaac Watts:

Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
 And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
 For such a worm as I?

You may think, “How can this be? I’m a wreck. There are days it pains me to see myself in a mirror.” Well, here is the good news: It is not the how, but the who. You can find His promise stated again in Jude’s marvelous doxology.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity.
– Jude 1:24-25 ESV, emphasis added

You may fail, fumble, and fall many times, but God has already determined “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

Footnotes

1. There is one God—“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)
   
   The one God, of the same “substance,” is three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
   “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19b)
   
   Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father [of the same substance] will love him, and we will come to him and make our [Father and Son] home with him.” (John 14:23)
   
   “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit [Holy Spirit] dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) ↩︎