In All These Things
by Peter Brokaar
Earlier this month I had a great chat with a lovely lady in our fellowship. She shared that she is getting more and more into the habit of pausing throughout the day and asking the Lord whether there is anything He wants to say to her. I could only agree that this was a wonderful idea.
The next day I was out for a run and twisted my ankle in a pothole. It hurt badly and as I was walking back to the car I was in some serious discomfort. I was also quite anxious that I might possibly not be able to run for a good while. Then I remembered our chat from the previous day and asked the Lord if there was anything He wanted to say to me.
Immediately He responded and said that our bodies are made in incredible ways that they quickly heal themselves. It was a such a blessing to hear this and I thanked God. In all honesty I’m not sure if I had ever thanked Him for the amazing regenerative powers He built into our bodies.
God did not choose to heal me miraculously, neither that moment nor subsequently. At the time of writing this, my foot still hurts a bit. But I do have to say that the improvement has been faster than I had dared hope for. Thank You Jesus for this speedy natural healing.
The reason I am sharing this experience is to encourage you to come to God, as soon as possible, with any situation. This way we find that, in the midst of our pain, He is near. And when we bring our pain and suffering to Him, He can bring blessing out of an otherwise horrible situation. I realise that my sprained ankle might seem trivial compared to the suffering some others face. But even when we go through deep suffering, God is near and wants to bring redemption.
Romans 8:37 is a well-known Bible verse which is often quoted at Christian meetings. It says that ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors’. But what exactly are ‘all these things’? The verses preceding mention all sorts of troubles, dangers and sufferings. God is with us in all these things and wants to be close to us. He promises victory and even redemption of our suffering, but it is important that we turn to Him wholeheartedly in the midst of all circumstances.
Peter Brokaar is Director of Ellel Ministries Scotland and has been there together with his wife Liz since 2005. They have 3 kids, all born in Scotland! In his free time he likes reading, cooking, running and surfing. Being at Ellel Scotland has given him the privilege of getting to know God deeper and sharing that joy with many others.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
