Worship for Today: I exist for God's purposes!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 44:22,
 
"Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

 

Here is something that most of us struggle with in our understanding of God and life in general. My Creator has given me life but life is not all about me. Life is not about my agenda, my purposes, my pleasure or my will. I struggle with the notion that I am not the center of the universe. I struggle with the notion that life is not all about me and that God does not exist for my happiness, my success and my fulfillment in life!

 

In this psalm the sons of Korah make a startling observation: they are suffering at the hand of God for no fault of their own! In a rare instance in Israel's history, if we believe what we are told in this psalm, Israel is not experiencing judgment from God for sin as they struggle with difficulty God has brought to them. In verses 17-21 we read, "All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?" Israel was suffering at the hand of God for no cause of their own: "you crushed us".

 

I often think that what I experience in life is due to how I live my life. After all we are told that a man reaps what he sows. While this is true, it is not all there is to life. Paul quotes our verse here in Romans 8:36 where he explains to us that as we endure hardships in this life in the process of being conformed to the likeness of his Son, we are subject to what God brings into our lives. In that passage Paul is careful to point to the fact that in the very pain we experience at God's hand, he loves us as he fulfills his purpose for our lives. Without asking if we are interested, God begins the painful process of changing us from within. And, no matter the danger we face, we will never be separated from the love of God.

 

I can think of other reasons people have suffered at God's hand for no fault of their own. Many of the prophets, John the Baptist, Stephen, Paul and the other apostles, all suffered due to God's purposes and agenda. Does this make God unjust or does it indicate he has a malevolent streak? Not at all! God pursues his own agenda! He pursues his own purposes! As he reveals himself to us in the pages of Scripture we find that our God is a loving, merciful and kind God. He is just, righteous and fair. In the midst of God carrying out his purposes he has used people to accomplish what he has desired to do. Because of what I have learned of God, I am quite convinced that although many of these folks had their lives expended for God's purposes, and at times in very painful ways, God will reward them richly in the resurrection.

 

God is about things that are bigger than me, things that transcend my perspective on what I might consider to be happy and fulfilling for my life. All of us, no matter who we are, face death all day long for God's sake; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. God does not exist for my purposes, my agenda. It is the other way around!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com