WISDOM

Lord, You are near me. Wherever I go or where I may find myself. I know that you are always near me because that is what You say in Your word, and I believe in Your word.

🔴 THE HIDDEN ‘BETTER’

🔻“But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away.” (John 16: 7)

At present we are saying that when our plans and hopes are shattered and our dreams in tatters, God can pour His strength into our struggling soul and reconstruct our shattered plans, making them far better than they were before.

So often the silences we experience, when our hopes are shattered and our plans seem delayed or destroyed, may be God’s way of preparing you for the next act. Hold steady. God never abandons His children, and He takes a Father’s interest in everything we do. It’s important to remember that He hurts in our hurts.

How it must have confused the disciples when Jesus said He was about to leave them. After three years it looked as if His ministry was making its mark. Even though there were those who hated Him, the crowds loved Him and flocked to Him wherever He went. The disciples’ hearts must have sunk when He talked about going away. They had given up their jobs to travel with Him. Peter had turned from his fishing nets. Matthew from his tax collecting. I imagine the announcement that He was leaving them brought about a collapse of all their hopes and expectations. Yet though they did not realise it at the time, what they thought was the collapse of their plans was in reality the changing of the scenery for the next act. Jesus was saying in effect: ‘My going is for your good. You will lose My physical presence, but the day will come when I will not just be with you, but in you. You will experience greater intimacy and know Me better than you can possibly imagine - much closer than I am at this moment. You will only need to search your heart to find Me there.’

Those disciples were to learn, as you and I must learn, that God never takes away the good unless He intends to replace it with the better. After Pentecost, the disciples realised that though Jesus had gone, He was closer to them than ever through the Holy Spirit. So let this thought become a prevailing principle in your life: your shattered plans and hopes may be just the prelude to the advancement of His.

—Selwyn Hughes

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