One of my favorite Bible verses since I was but a wee lad has been Romans 12:2. I’ve memorized it in several translations. I have always found it to be an easy verse to accept, but lately, it has proven to be much more difficult to believe.
It’s a common verse, but for anyone not familiar, here is a quick paraphrase:
”Conform no longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to discern God’s Will, His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
It’s easy to recite. It’s easy to know. But it isn’t so easy to believe. When insurance rates rise and income goes down, it isn’t easy to say that God’s will is good. When a spouse is sick and the chance of having children looks bleak, it is difficult to say through gritted teeth that this circumstance is pleasing to God. When the pantry is bare and you have a choice between buying food and keeping the lights on, it is almost impossible to see the perfect will of God in such a circumstance.
This has been my struggle the last few months. I know that my idea of good is different from God’s. I know that what pleases me is completely the opposite of what is pleasing to God. I know that I’m as far from perfect as an ant is to a giant, and God has been perfect for all of eternity. In practice though, it is so hard for me to believe that my momentary hardships are actually good.
On this side of eternity, I’m certainly not seeing anything that resembles what I would think of as good or pleasing or perfect. So, I’ve found this verse, dusted it off and spent some time meditating on it. I may not know how God is going to use the circumstance I am in. I may have absolutely no idea how this can possibly be called good a year or two years or a thousand years from now, but I know the words of Romans 12:2 tell the truth about God.
One of my biggest battles recently has been truly believing that God is actually good. It’s so easy lately to look at the struggles I’ve been facing and feel like God doesn’t care. But I know in my heart He has a plan. I know in my heart His plan is good, pleasing and perfect. I also know that God doesn’t change.
I trust that God was good when he brought my wife and I together. I trust that God was good when He provided us with a house. I trust that God was good when He gave us jobs and with income. I trust that God was good when He kept us from being hungry and homeless in the past. If God was good, God still is good because He, unlike our present economy, is stable. He’s the same God He always was and if He delivered us from hardship before, I am confident He will again. But, it’s a fragile confidence.
Come quickly, Lord.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty