From the desk of Dr. Watkins…….

Have you ever felt stressed out, pressed and drained all at the same time?  Issues hitting you from the North, South, East and West…..and you stand in amazement wondering why it is when you know you’re living Holy and pleasing in the sight of God, still trouble comes? Our topic this month, “The Pain of Something Good” deals with these emotions.  Believe it or not, sometimes it’s necessary for us to go through the pain of hardship, even though the outcome is working together for our good! It doesn’t always feel good, and we sure don’t understand the process…. but God has His own way of dealing with each and every issue that life presents.

Be Blessed,

Dr. Sherman S. Watkins

Does it ever seem like just as soon as you get one issue handled something else pops up that brings with it yet more issues?  The pressure can get so intense that you feel like just one more thing is going to push you over the edge! Everything seems out of whack……if it’s not the people at work, it’s your health, your relationship, Church issues…..and the list goes on and on. It can get to the place where you begin to wonder, God, where are You……can’t You see that I’m under attack?”  You feel like you’re at the breaking point and all you want God to do is STOP THE MADNESS, please!!!  There are some that would view this “human emotion” as murmuring and complaining, but God, in His infinite wisdom says, “That’s My child and they’re just expressing to Me their true feelings….real human emotions.”  It’s not that God doesn’t know what we’re going through, but it is our privilege to go to Him, knowing that if God doesn’t fix it, it can’t be fixed. When we get to this point in our emotions we’re at a place of “submission” because the pressure is so great…..it’s beyond our control. We know that if God doesn’t settle our spirit, it’s a possibility that we may go out of character or do something that we may regret later.  When you really, REALLY love God you’ll feel the pain of being committed to the challenge.  We know that the Bible says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that ALL THINGS work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” We know that eventually it’s going to work together for our good……but what about the meantime?  This is the challenge for the believer. The meantime is that intervening time between what is and what is to be. We’ve all experienced THE MEANTIME. We understand no doubt, it’s working together for our good, but God, the pain is so excruciating that we don’t know if we can endure the pain to get to something good!  These are the times that our love for God is put to the test. It is because we love God so much that we’re holding on, despite the fight inside of us, telling us to give up. I won’t lie and say it’s not painful, because it is……but there’s something inside that is stronger than our warfare, and even when that’s all we have to hold on to, it’s still enough! Sometimes it’s all we can do to just stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Oh, we can all fake it for the sake of others, but the truth of the matter is, IT’S TOUGH sometimes. We may as well tell the truth…..God never promised that once we gave our life to Him that we would then float through here on a flowery bed of ease, but the Bible says in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that IN ME ye might have peace. IN THE WORLD ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  That’s what causes us to hold on, when holding on is the last thing this flesh wants to do. It’s the knowledge the trouble can’t last always that gives us the strength, even through the difficulties of life; still we hold on and refuse to give up! Life will beat you down so far that the only place to go is up. When you get tired of the facades, the masks, the permanent grin that you’ve placed on your face…..that’s when you’ll really give it to God and understand that the final decision is ALL IN HIS HANDS. God will not always snatch us out of the fire immediately…..but we know that SOMETHING GOOD is coming out of THIS PAIN!