Each day we need to pray to remember that God is in charge. He is not our co-pilot, He is our pilot. Philippians 2:14 reads that we should “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” By remembering that God is in charge, we can rest assured that we are in His care when the trials of life happen because he has either willed them, or at the very least allowed them to happen.
Since God is in charge, we can trust that He is managing such things for our good. We don’t need to worry about the things that cause us stress, especially the stuff we can’t change. Romans 8:28 reads:
‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ‘
Romans 8:28
Remember also that suffering leads to good character and hope for the Christian. C.S. Lewis says in The Great Divorce that, as time passes and as we mature in Christ-likeness, even the worst trials we have will be colored to show God’s glory, especially as we approach Heaven. Romans 5:3-4 reads:
‘Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ‘
Romans 5:3-4
We need to “let” (or more readily accept, rather) that God is in control of our lives and of difficult people. We need to pray for them, but also realize that God put these people into your life so that you can plant seeds and help them on their journey to Christ. It can be a long process. There is no on/off switch for Christ-likeness, it is a daily struggle and we must work continually to deny ourselves. Matthew 16:24 reads:
‘Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ‘
Matthew 16:24
In the Old Testament, God often took His time with trying to make people more holy and acknowledge and turn away from their sin. In Numbers 11:14-15 while the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years, Moses was ‘at the end of his rope’. He was so fed up with their complaining that he begged God, if He found favor with him, to please kill him! Even Moses had to wait on God.
After all, God is patient with us. Remember what Jesus said about planks in Matthew 7:3:
‘ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ‘
Matthew 7:3
We always need to question ourselves and ask: “What can we do better to help change or witness to this person, or to help this situation?” After all, we are the only ones we can control.
We need to remember that sometimes God puts people into our lives and puts us into certain situations because he wants us to be His hands and feet. God is the one who will ultimately change someone’s heart, but we need to carry out the action to initiate the change. Sometimes that is just being a Christ-like example.