Not a Lot of Answers But Plenty of Guarantees

Monday, December 2, 2013

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Little Mark is at that stage. He's about three years old. He's the son of our friends, and he's cute...for a while. Until he starts asking all those questions! Guess what his favorite one is? (I'll bet you'll know!) "Why?"

Why is good once, twice, or maybe three times. But with little Mark, every answer you give provokes another, "Why?" Pretty soon you'll run out of answers to all the "why's". I only see him occasionally, and the last time I saw him I could notice his father across the room with this amused smile. It was if he was telling me, "Hey, it's your turn, Ron. I get this all the time." Listen, can you imagine a day in and day out, "Why, Daddy?" We might say to his father, "Well, he'll outgrow it." But in fact, we haven't even outgrown asking "Why?"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not a Lot of Answers, But Plenty of Guarantees."

Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the familiar words of 1 Corinthians 10:13. "No temptation..." it says. Which, by the way, in the original Greek word also means trial or testing. "No temptation (or trial, or testing) has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted (or tested or tried) He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Now, I find nowhere in scripture a promise of answers to our persistent question, "Why, Daddy?" When trouble comes we say, "Why is this happening, Father?" God's tapestry is way too complex to understand with only earth eyes. I don't know what trouble or trial you're struggling with right now, and I sure don't know why. But I do know four guarantees that God gives you in the middle of your struggle.

Number one: never past the breaking point. We just read it. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. He has never taken one of His children past their breaking point. He knows your limits. He'll take you to the breaking point to increase your spiritual weight-lifting strength; to increase your faith; to make you more of an emotional winner and champion. But He'll never take you past the breaking point. That's guaranteed.

Number two: never without God's signature. Look at what happened with Job. Job suffering all kinds of things, he must have said, "Why, Daddy? Why is all this happening?" But God didn't answer him. But we know this; the Devil had to get God's permission before he could touch Job. It's still that way today. If there is a trial in your life, it has been Father-filtered. God has signed it before it got to you. He said, "This could make you more like Jesus or I wouldn't let it come into your life." Never without God's signature.

The third guarantee: never without a hope door. It looks like there's no way out, but this says God will always provide a way out. You can't see one, but God has supernatural deliverances that you've never even thought about.

And the fourth guarantee, He guarantees never without God's presence. That wonderful verse in Isaiah chapter 43 says, "When you pass through the fire, I will be with you."

Corrie ten Boom had terrible experiences in a German concentration camp. She lost her family there. They were there because of helping to save Jews in the horrible days of WWII. She said, "There is no pit so deep but God's love is deeper still." If you're a child of God who is full of questions about "why", your Father understands that. You may not even get the answer to that question this side of heaven. But you have your Father's guarantees: Never past the breaking point, never without His signature, never without a hope door, and never without God's presence.

It could just be that you've been weathering life's "why's" and storms and troubles, and you don't have this kind of personal relationship where you know the deep love of God. He died on a cross so you could have that kind of relationship with Him to remove the sin that's between you and Him. And you could begin that relationship today by saying, "Lord, I've been without your love long enough. I'm yours."

You want to know how to begin that relationship? Let me invite you to join me at our website ANewStory.com. It could be page one, chapter one of a new story for you. From the moment you begin a relationship with Jesus, you have His promise that has your name on it. "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you."