Run to Daddy

Daily Devotional by Tommy Tenney

Some forms of worship only release their sweetest fragrance to God when offered from the fires of trial and adversity.

Finding Favor with the King, p. 25

Scripture Reading

Acts 16:25-34, where Paul and Silas, beaten and locked up in the Philippian jail, offer prayer and praise to God. He delivers them with an earthquake, and the jailer and his household become believers.

It is taught by some in the modern church that believers can expect an easy road in life if they will only have faith. It is good - even absolutely necessary - for true believers to believe and have faith in God. But the Christ of the Bible has never said "Life should be a breeze!" Christians - good Christians - sometimes go bankrupt. Christians get cancer. Christians lose their jobs. Trials and adversity are real, even for believers - perhaps especially for believers. They touch every one of us and they hurt (and they usually have nothing to do with our faith level). So how do you handle adversity in your life? Do you gripe and complain, saying, "Oh, woe is me!" Do you challenge or question God? "Why are You letting this happen to me?" Or have you learned to view trials as an opportunity to grow and to draw closer to your heavenly Father?

Children who get a cut or a scrape run to Mommy or Daddy for comfort - somehow their comforting and reassuring kisses make life better. The pain offers yet another opportunity to exchange love and deepen the bonds of unconditional love between children and parents.In the same way, trials and hard times should propel us into our Father's arms. Rather than run from Him, we must run to Him and find comfort, strength and direction in His presence. Our faith is in Him, in His abiding love, and in His Word; not in the false expectation that all trouble and adversity will leave our lives.

Jesus said, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you..." He also gave us this great promise: "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." You are on assignment in enemy territory, and trials and adversity are part of living in a fallen world. As God walks through the hard times with you, the problems serve as purifying fires burning away your impurities and strengthening you for service - if you embrace the process of growth. Your trials tend to either make you or break you - it all depends on your response.

Paul and Silas were thrown into the Philippian prison, with their feet in stocks and their backs bruised and bleeding from wrongful beatings. They could have moaned and groaned, but at the midnight hour they were too busy "praying and singing hymns to God"! They transformed their pain into praise and their stripes into songs of joy. The jubilant worship birthed in the midst of fierce tribulation became a sweet fragrance in the nostrils of God. The presence of the Father arrived with such for that it shook the earth and brought deliverance to His worshipers. The sweet fragrance of their worship even affected the lives of the jailer and his family and changed their lives forever.

Athletes know that in order to grow stronger their muscles must be stress and stretched in exercise so even stronger tissue will generate. This principle of "no pain, no gain" even applies to the Christian life. We cannot grow without pain and resistance. God uses the trials and hardships of life to draw us closer to Him and to develop greater maturity in us so we can go on to greater things. Willing worship in times of tribulation becomes the sweet fragrance that brings God near. It's easy to praise God when things go well. Have you learned to worship Him in hard times as well? Your trials and adversity are fresh opportunities to praise and worship God - and to experience new growth. When life hurts, don't run away - run to Daddy!

Prayer

Father, sometimes life hurts. My first impulse is to turn my back or run away, but I know You love me. The bad times and the sad times in my life should draw me closer to Your side and make me more like You. Teach me to worship You at all times - even in the hard times. Let my worship be a sweet fragrance rising to Your throne.