Taking It to Work:
We are all familiar with Murphy’s law. It’s the pessimistic law that seems to apply to anything and everything. It’s why when you drop a piece of toast, it’s going to land butter-side down, or why the other line or the other lane, always moves faster. Or in a general statement, “If something can go wrong, it will.”
The origin goes back to the late 1940’s when aerospace engineer Edward Murphy had some important test gauges wired backwards on him. As it happened, Murphy’s strain gauges could be wired one of two ways, and incredibly all 16 had been installed backwards.
Sometimes it seems that nothing goes as planned, and most of the time, if it does go, it is not as easy as we thought it would be. In the workplace it is commonplace; deadlines are missed, schedules slip, and budgets and profits are bled dry with the unforeseen.
For life in general, especially if we claim a God who doesn’t leave our side, why doesn’t He make it simpler for us? Why does it seem that Murphy rules? Why the constant difficulties? Why the struggles?
The answer I believe is two-fold. First, God wants us to have reason to draw closer to Him. Honestly, how often do we do that when all is going well? In contrast, how much more likely will we go to Him when we are in trouble or out of options? The truth is, difficulty can bring us closer to God far quicker than abundance and peace.
And secondly, it gives us a chance to see how our God can use the worst circumstances for good, to see that He truly has an overall grasp of the larger situation. When we do see this, it grows our faith in His ability to lead our lives, even down paths that don’t seem very pleasurable to go down.
So, whether you just hit your finger with a hammer, or are bearing a new, heavy hardship at work, whether there is turmoil in your family, or you’re having the worst battle of your life with finances or health, they are not the work of Murphy. They are the normal troubles of life, the droughts and dryness of this world that Jesus said He has already overcome, and are part of God’s plan. He knew our struggles before time began, and if we handle them with faith, they will drive our roots deep, and will bring us closer to the God who gave us our work, family, finances, health and that hammer.
Don’t let the hardships harden your heart toward God. God’s will in our hardship is that we would turn and seek His face, growing closer to Him through the drought, and trusting in Him for the goodness that is in His bigger plan.
Murphy’s law of gloom and doom continually threatens us with the worst in life. But with the true, following Christian, with roots driven deeper than anyone can see, to a source of living water only a true follower can have, we are governed by a different law, a promise given in His Word that we never have to fear in times of trouble and drought. In fact, if we reach out for Him, we will actually bear fruit in the midst of that drought, as His Word works in us today.
Deut 31:8 (ESV) – It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Heb 4:16 – “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need”.
John 16:33 (ESV) – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (ESV) – “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):
Difficulty is as a brick, without which there would be no wall, no fortress. The strain of today brings strength for all tomorrows. I do not grant My children leave from those things that bring favor. It is in the drought where the deepest roots grow to make strong the tree. Such a tree fears no more, and bears fruit even as the next drought comes. The parched above, brings deep the roots to plentiful springs the world above cannot understand. The earth will continue to sour; its lands will dry as its people devour all that is not of God. The nourishment of the rain will cease, but the unseen spring will burst forth life through those who reach deeply for it. They will know Me and be refreshed. I shall conquer their thirst, and they will bear fruit abundantly. Even in the great drought there will be fruit, for the Lord provides for His children, but those loyal to the rain, but not of the Rainmaker, will cease. They shall run from the trials, and will not call My Name. Their shallow roots broken off, and so in time their boughs. Do not shun the hardship, for the weight carries you closer to He who suffered greatly and redeemed all things. Reach deeper for the Spring of Life, and you shall find new growth bursting forth amidst the desert.
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