I’m sure you’ve heard “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” I dunno. I’ve always wondered, “What if I don’t like lemonade?” But, that’s just me. ;->
I was reading an article by the Baptist Press “FIRST-PERSON: What is your perspective on life?”, most of which is irrelevant to today’s topic. However, one bit of it caught my eye:
In recent Christian history, Southern Baptist evangelist Manley Beasley was a renowned teacher on the concept of faith and its implications for life even when faced with suffering. Although most of his adult life was impacted by terminal illnesses, he believed that every day he lived was the direct result of God at work in his life and body. He possessed a keen perspective of life that many people, even Christians, overlook.
He was often heard using a lemon to describe how to authenticate a person’s worldview. “What do you get when you squeeze a lemon?” When stuff happens in life (the squeeze), he maintained that the reaction is what demonstrates a person’s genuine perspective of life. Then he would teach the Christians in his audience, “The Lord wants to bring us to the point that whenever we are squeezed, what comes out will be the nature and fragrance of Jesus.”
I can relate to this because I’ve been squeezed recently, as some of you know, and hard. I know I’m not alone, though, so I share with others what I’m going through.
It is easy to praise God when things are going well for us. It is easy then to give God the glory. Is it easy to give Him the glory when things are not going our way? Either way, doesn’t He deserve the glory? When it says “all things” work for our good, does it mean that? He gets the glory for shaping and molding us, even when we don’t know what it’s all about!