Previously this year I did a series on
the things that I can see.
There are a lot of things that we can't see in life
but there are some things that we
can see about the future and that's God's promises.
Now that doesn't mean we always know why
God does what he does.
I'm reminded of an old story about a farmer
who had a horse that ran away.
And the farmer's friends and his neighbors came over and they said,
"Oh farmer, what a bad thing that your horse ran away."
And the farmer said, "No, no you say too much.
We don't know what's good or bad, do we?
In the things that happen.
All you should say is that my horse has run away."
Well, of course the next day that horse came back
leading eleven other horses into the corral with him. And the,
the neighbors came over and they said,
"Oh farmer, we know what you mean now.
It's a good thing that your horse ran away."
And the farmer said, "No, no. You say too much.
We don't know what's good or bad.
You should only say that I have twelve horses now."
And of course, the next day,
his son, the farmer's son broke his leg
breaking those horses.
And the neighbors came over and they said,
"Oh farmer, we know what you mean.
Those horses are a bad thing."
And the farmer said, "No, no, no.
Always, always, you say too much.
You should only say my son has a broken leg."
And then, of course, not long after that the country went to war
and all the young men had to go fight in
the battle except for the ones with broken legs.
And the neighbors came over and the farmer said,
"Ah, don't say too much."
Do you see the point?
We say too much when we challenge
why God does what he does in our lives.
We need to remember what he says in Isaiah 55, verse 9. He says,
In other words, we say too much when we say,
"I know exactly why God did this
or why he did that."
We should only say, "I know God's plan for me eternally"
and then focus on the things that we can see:
his promises.
The reason I can tell you for fact that
when those negative things, or the bad things from
our perspective, that happen in your life happen,
I can tell you that it's not because God's angry with you.
It's not because God is getting even with you.
I can tell you that for one simple reason.
We have his promise.
He forgives you.
And don't overlook that daily miracle.
In fact, the Bible says,
I absolutely love that picture.
How far is the east from the west?
Well, if I start walking east,
how far do I have to walk east before I start heading west?
You don't, right?
The east and west are infinitely far apart.
That is how God has forgiven you.
In fact, that picture
is a picture from the Old Testament where God sends away sin.
It's the scapegoat of Leviticus, chapter 16.
Now, I know sometimes we look at Leviticus and we think,
well that's a boring book.
But Leviticus 16, that's a biggie.
And I would encourage you to read it.
That's the chapter about the day of atonement.
So, do you remember what happened to the scapegoat?
What happened was that the high priest
took all the sins of the people and he placed them
on the goat's head.
And then that goat was led out into the desert never to be seen again.
Do you see what God was teaching about the way he forgives?
We sin,
but that goat gets led away.
We sin,
but the goat dies in our place.
Finally, it was a picture of Jesus.
Fast forward to the time of Jesus.
What happened there?
God placed all the sins of the whole world on Jesus
and then he led him away from his presence
when he turned his back on him on the cross
when Jesus cried out,
"My God, my God, why have you forsake me?"
We sin,
but Jesus got led away.
We sin, but Jesus died in our place.
And it's because of that that now we can look at
whatever happens in our life
and we can say it's good because God is good.
How can the one who loved me to death on a cross ever hurt me?
And the answer is,
he can't.
And it doesn't mean life is gonna be easy.
But it does mean God is leading you to his side in heaven.
Let's pray.
Strengthen me oh gracious Lord.
By your Spirit and your Word.
When my wayward heart would stray.
Keep me in the narrow way.
Grace in time of need supply.
While I live and when I die.
Amen
Hey, thanks for watching.
Maybe you know someone who's going through a hard time right now
who could really use this video.
Share it with them.
And we'll see you tomorrow.