“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came
that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 (ESV)
Do you ever have days when you ask, “Are you there God? Are you really working in my life?” I have to be honest, there have been days
when I may not have wondered if God was there- but I wondered if maybe He
chooses not to work in my life for a while.
There are some days I am like Habakkuk as he cries out to the Lord, “How
long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2
NIV). At the same time, it is in those
days that God is saying, “I never left you; I will never leave you; Just come
unto me my child and I will be your comforter, your rescuer, your provider.
Remember my child, I came so that you may have life and have it
abundantly!”
An abundant life consists of a profusion of the fruits of
the Spirit- love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), not an abundance of
“things”. It consists of life that is
eternal and, as such, our interest is in the eternal, not the temporal. Paul
admonishes us: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians
3:2). An abundant life does not mean we will have
all the riches we desire, nor a trouble free life. You see abundant living is not just when
everything is going “right”, but even while we are going through the worst of
times, we can live abundantly in the here and now.
I remember when Jim and I lost our baby many years ago. The aching in my heart was so painful, yet as
I lay on my hospital bed in tears I began to sing a little chorus, “There’s
something mighty sweet about the Lord; there’s something mighty sweet about the
Lord; it really doesn’t matter, what the people say, there’s something mighty
sweet”. The nurse phoned my husband who
had gone home to be with our then 5 year old daughter, Heather, and told him
they think I am losing my mind because I am singing a song. Jim asked the nurse what song I was singing, in
bewilderment she told him and he replied, “Tell my wife that Heather and I are
singing the same song tonight too!” Were
we crazy? Maybe; were we grieving? Most assuredly! But our Lord promised us abundant life –
today and every day. Not just on the
“good” days, but even in the so called worst days of our lives. Again, as Habakkuk wrote later in chapter
3:17-19, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the
vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there
are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a
deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
So through our tears, our sorrow,
our heartache, we were praising our Savior and letting Him and everyone around
us know that even through our pain, our God is mighty no matter what happens in
our lives – because our God is still God – whether we have little or have much
– we have life and have it more abundantly – today and every day; for our God
is mighty – our God is faithful.
In what ways is your life abundant? Do you praise the Lord even through your
sorrow, pain and trials? Have you found
that even through it all – you still have joy, peace, love etc…– and have it
more abundantly? If not, what is keeping
you from the abundant life that our Lord and Savior promise?
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all
that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
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