Week Thirty-Four - The Ups and Downs of Life

Have you ever considered how many opposites there are in life? Happy and sad, rich and poor, day and night, all are opposites. From the beginning of creation, it has been the same. It started with darkness and then moved to light. Genesis 1:5 reads, "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." 

 

Spurgeon wrote, "It is one of the arrangements of Divine providence that day and night shall not cease either in the spiritual or natural creation until we reach the land of which it is written, 'There will be no more night." Amen! Heaven has no opposites. 

Here we face opposites every day and they become an irritant. But since they are a part of everyday life, why would we be overly concerned about their continuance or struggle to accept them?

Spurgeon gives us five suggestions for managing our pivotal life.

1) Learn to be content with divine order. You can't change it. The sun will come up in the morning and set in the evening. If you believe in the sovereignty of God, you understand that the heavens and all created therein run according to His perfect design. So settle back, and trust Him contently.

2) Be willing to receive good and hard times from the Lord. Job told his wife, "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Hard times and good times come to us all. It is part of the ebb and flow of life. We needn't let that knock us out of the water but receive both with a sense of gladness and confidence in the Lord.

3) Be joyful and full of praise, even as the nightingale sings at all hours. Spurgeon wrote, "Praise the Lord for the sun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is beauty both in sunrise and sunset. Sing of it and glorify the Lord."

4) Believe that the night is as useful as the day. In the night, the hard times of life, God's grace feels nearest, and in the darkness of grief, the stars of promise shine forth more gloriously. God does some of His best work in the dark!

5) Continue your service under all changes. God is faithful - so you be faithful. In the daytime, your rally cry is work. At night, exchange it for the watch. "Every hour has its duty; continue in your calling as the Lord's servant until He shall suddenly appear in His glory," Spurgeon said.

Dear friend, life has many ups and downs, but God is the God of them all. He is not afraid of hardships as we are, soo allow your heart to ebb and flow with God's Divine providence and learn to rejoice both in darkness and in light until we reach our heavenly home!