“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.”
The New Testament is full of paradoxes:
- When you are weak you are strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
- The way to get is to give (2 Corinthians 9:6).
- The one who loses his life gains it (Matthew 10:39).
- The way to become great is by being a servant (Mark 10:43-45).
- The last will be first and the first will be last (Matthew 19:30).
In his second letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul shares another anomaly for those who walk with God: There is an upside to down times. This is a truth Paul discovered while walking through some very difficult circumstances.
We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10 The Message)
What happened to Paul in the province of Asia? Was there an attempt on his life? Did he suffer some punishing malady? No one knows for sure. What we do know is that Paul said, “it was the best thing that could have happened.” Why? Because God used the trying time to deepen Paul’s faith.
As Paul trusted God, he discovered that God (who raises the dead) would employ that power to rescue him again and again—as many times as he needed rescuing.
Amazing!
Where are you experiencing a "downer" in life? There is an upside to it. Like Paul you can say, “it was the best thing that could have happened.” This change in perspective occurs as you learn to trust that God really is working in your life in the midst of your challenge.
Sometimes it is hard to think of God at work when difficulties arrive. Anxiety, like some swashbuckling pirate, is making too much noise. But Spurgeon is right, "anxiety . . . only empties today of it's strengths." My task is not necessarily to fight the anxious thought, but to look to God through all the dust of emotions, to learn to rest in the fact that is there and that he is at work on my behalf -- because he is!
Here's an idea. Why not take something on your desk or work space and turn it upside down today as your reminder that God promises to bring an upside to your down times.
He has that kind of power. He loves you that much.