Circumstances Producing Results

[Christsfreeservant]

“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14 NASB1995)​

One thing that I learned in life, and that I learned well, is that God is fully sovereign over our lives, and everything that comes into our lives is allowed by God or it could not happen. And that is not to say that God approves of it all, but that he allows both good and bad to come into our lives in order to make us and to mold us into his likeness so that we can be used of him to serve his purposes in getting the message of the gospel to the people of the world and to help us to grow and to mature in faith and in obedience to him.

For, before the creation of the world God knew us who have believed on him, and he had a plan and a purpose for our lives. And he is the one who placed us in the wombs of our mothers and who formed us in their wombs. So he is the one who gave us the parents and the siblings that we had, for good or for evil (my father was an abuser). Before he created us, in his book were written all the days that were ordained for us before any of them came into being (Psalm 139:13-16: Romans 8:29; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-4).

I have had both good and bad in my life, from many different sources, in multiple locations, over the course of my 75 years. I know what it means to be abused, to be mistreated, to be hated, rejected, cast aside as unwanted, mocked, falsely accused of wrong, lied to, and treated as though I am a nothing for others to stomp on and to discard as though I don’t matter. But then I have also been treated with kindness and respect, as a person of value, loved and honored by some, and accepted and valued by God.

And I can honestly say that all the rejection and persecution I have faced in my life is what God used to move me to commit my life to him in the area of ministry to which he called me 21 years ago. It is what God used in my life to call me to the internet to write down what he is teaching me each day during my times with him in his word, and to then post these writings on the internet, which are then being viewed by many people across the world in multiple nations, over which I have no control. It is where God sends them.

So, if we are true followers of Christ, not only will we have the blessings of following Jesus with our lives, but we are also going to face rejection and persecution, and we will have hardships, trials, and tribulations. But in all that the Lord allows to come into our lives, he has something he wants to teach us through them. And he wants to grow us in him so that we will follow him even more closely, and so that he can use us in his service, perhaps in ways we would never before have ever imagined.

So, don’t let your trials and tribulations and difficult circumstances discourage you. Believe that God is sovereign and that he is allowing difficulties in your life to mature you and to make you more like Jesus, and to lead you to a closer and a deeper walk with him in obedience to his commands. And this is not talking to those who are living in deliberate and habitual sin against God. This is for those who are walking by faith, but who are being faced with difficult circumstances over which they have no control.

In the midst of your trials and tribulations, call out to God, and ask him to lead you in the way that he would have for you to go. Ask him to teach you what he wants you to learn through your trials. And then follow him wherever he leads you in service to him. And be a follower of Christ who is sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world. Tell them that Jesus died to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die to sin and obey his commandments, and serve him with our lives.

Gospel:[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

Lyrics by Frances J Crosby, pub. 1875
Music by Robert Lowry, pub. 1875

All the way my Savior leads me,
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

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Circumstances Producing Results
An Original Work / August 19, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love