God Specializes in Giving People a Fresh Start
The Bible says “What happiness for those whose guilt has
been forgiven!”-what relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has
cleared their record.
Seek God in all you do; desire friendship with God more
than anything else.
In the Bible, the friends of God were honest about their
feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their
Creator. God, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by this frankness; in fact,
he encouraged it.
God allowed Abraham to question and challenge Him over the
destruction of the city of
God also listened patiently to David’s many accusations of
unfairness, betrayal, and abandonment. God did not slay Jeremiah when he
claimed that God had tricked him. Job was allowed to vent his bitterness during
his ordeal and He rebuked Job’s friends for being inauthentic. God told them,
“You haven’t been honest either with me or about me-not the way my friend Job
has…My friend Job will now pray for you and I will accept his prayer.”
Many of us are driven by resentment and anger—we all have
some! We need to let go and let God give us a fresh start. We all spend many
years in our own jails and prisons, whether it is confusion, financial
problems, sickness, etc. “We are driven by fear.” When we are in an impossible
situation or are facing one, we must remember that the Bible tells us that God
is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream
of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. But God
specializes. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
(read Isaiah 26:3)
God can bring you out of any trouble and situation. Trust
in God-obey God-love God-need God-lean on God-and believe He can do all things.
Believe it! Proverbs 3:6 tells us: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.”
God can make your life smooth-He can make it straight, but
you have to lean on Him: not man and the things of this world. Proverbs 3:5
tells us: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine
own understanding.” Proverbs 23:4 tells us: “…cease from thine own
wisdom.” Romans
Prison is a dark place; a lonely place. Cold and absent
from you loved ones and the world. It can also be a safe place, a place for
study, an educational place, or just simply a place to be still and wait on
God. It can be a quiet place where you may hear the
Lord speak to you. I was confined to prison for 24 years-but God specializes
and He was with me in my darkest hour; sometimes, we have to be still long
enough so our Lord and Saviour can speak to us, whether we have to wait 10
years or 50 years. You cannot ignore God; he has a purpose for us. Without God,
life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning,
life has no significance or hope. (In the Bible, many men expressed this
hopelessness.) Isaiah complained, “I have labored to no purpose. I have spent my
strength in vain and for nothing.” Job said, “My life drags by-day after
hopeless day. I give up: I am tired of living. Leave me alone. My life makes no
sense.” The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.
God specializes in giving people a fresh start—we need
God—get saved and live.
Amazing Grace