Matthew 5:45 That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The Lord is quoted in this scripture in Matthew and it contains an important principle which I think we sometimes tend to overlook. Many believe and even teach that if someone acquires much material prosperity, then God has surely given them favor, and that if someone is undergoing extreme trial, it must be because they have sinned or that they lack faith. But the Lord says that the sun rises and the rain falls on both the righteous and the unrighteous alike. A life of good circumstances does not necessarily mean that God is with us. And likewise, a life of trial and suffering does not mean that God is not with us!
If we base our lives on our circumstances, we are no different than people without God. What makes us different from the world is that we have something far greater than our circumstances! We can live victoriously both in want and in plenty because we have a relationship with the living God!
There is nothing wrong with rejoicing through the good times but we need to rejoice through the bad as well! If you’re going through some hard times, choose to rejoice in the Lord today! We have a greater treasure and a more amazing victory when our lives are centered upon Him at all times!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
More Devotions
A recent study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California Los Angeles wanted to find out, “if you had to choose between more time and more money, what would it be?” While they found most respondents answered, “more money”, they also found that those who preferred “more time” were generally happier! When I read this article, it reminded me of a story, that I’d like to share.
While John warned against deception in the last days, and we should be mindful and discerning the times in which we live, keenly aware of the rise of the spirit of Antichrist — he also gave us encouragement: “…you have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
The Lord spoke to Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt to be desperately cornered with the Red sea before them and Pharaoh’s chariots advancing upon them from behind. Overwhelmed with terror they cry out to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Having just miraculously escaped from the miserable life of slavery, and only beginning their new life of freedom, the children of Israel were faced with the most dire threat to their existence.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve begun a series of devotions based on the Exodus wanderings of the Children of Israel, and their tragic mistakes which we can learn from and avoid. One powerful influence common to their failures was fear.
For the past two weeks we have examined lessons from the OT account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in hope of avoiding the errors and attitudes of the children of Israel. This week we will draw connections between the Exodus and the prophecies in the book of Revelation.