Goodness

 Now that we’ve determined what trouble means and given the word the requisite gravitas ask yourself if you’ve ever been in real trouble since becoming a believer, and God has not been there in some form or fashion. Sometimes He intervenes supernaturally. At other times, He uses people, but His goodness is undeniable, as is His presence in our moments of greatest need.

He is not an absentee Father; He has not abandoned His children, nor is He deaf to their cries. Because He is engaged and present, there are moments in your walk when He knows you can do more than you think you can, and having done it, you will mature exponentially.

All things work together for good to those who love God, including those things that are unpleasant to the flesh. It is so because even the difficult days - the days you feel as though you’re being crushed under the weight of the cross you carry - are according to His purpose.

The same God that created the eagle created the giant clam. I know that came out of left field, but there’s a point to be made. While all the giant clam has to do is open its mouth, and its food floats in, the eagle must soar high into the air, then dive bomb a body of water, hoping to get its claws into his dinner.

We look at the lives of others and think that they have it too easy. At least, they have it easier than us. That is speculation without foundation because you don’t know what they go through behind closed doors, how hard they work, how early they rise, or the effort they put forth when no one is looking. Even if it were true, it isn’t your place to compare the ease or difficulty of life to others because God may have made them giant clams while He made you an eagle.

Yes, there are moments in life when you’d give anything to be a giant clam, just sitting on the bottom of the ocean and opening wide once in a great while, but then again, that’s all you’d ever know; that one place on the bottom of the ocean. You’d be at the mercy of the currents and have to content yourself with whatever floats into your space.

Between the eagle and the clam, it is the clam who fears for tomorrow; it is the clam who grows anxious and fearful when no food washes into its mouth for days on end. If the eagle is hungry, it hunts. The world is its oyster, as it were, and he is never anxious or fearful for his sustenance. The eagle lives a mindset of abundance, while the oyster one of scarcity.

Don’t be an eagle pretending to be a clam. You won’t get far. If all the eagle does is sit in its nest waiting for food to come its way, it will starve. If, however, it uses the unique gifts it has been given, it will never do without. If you do decide to be a clam, if you don’t strive, knock, seek, but just wait for someone to throw leftovers in your maw, as my kids like to say, you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.

There’s a tradeoff for everything in life, and this is no exception. Being an eagle may be more taxing, but you get to see sunrises and sunsets and feel the thermals under your wings. You get to soar, fly toward the heavens, and be free. I think that last one is key. You get to be free. Sure, you have to work a little harder, but you’re not helpless, dependent, or reliant.

The beasts of the field and the birds of the air have no help, yet they are not anxious for tomorrow. We have the promise of God’s help, yet we are in constant panic about what the future holds. God’s already there, ready to help if you need it, but trusting that you will avail yourself of the tools He’s provided you first.

I’m not absent anxiousness because I’m sure of my abilities; I’m not anxious because I’m sure of His.

Psalm 121:2, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

That’s not a boast; it’s a fact. He who made heaven and earth is in your corner. He is there to help. What have you to fear? What have you to be anxious about or fearful of?

Your focus shouldn’t be on the things of this earth or what is in store for tomorrow. Your singular focus should be seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Once you do that, everything else will fall into place.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Sometimes that’s easier said than done, but it is nevertheless necessary. We must acknowledge that some things the Word commands us to do are more difficult than others, but even so, they must be carried out if we desire to walk in the promises of God and not just speak of them.

If you seek the kingdom first, you will attain what you have sought, and as a bonus, everything the common man frets over and worries about will be added unto you.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.