A Fruitful Life

God lives and works today, but without a doubt there have been times in your life when you couldn't see God at work. Perhaps someone opposed you and humiliated you. Perhaps your wishes were denied or your plans thwarted.

And you wondered, why does this have to happen to me? Where is God? Why doesn't he intervene? The answer to these questions is in today's meditation, a personal testimony from the life of Basilea Schlink. I had personally developed a Christian youth ministry which had grown and really blossomed into life. Then, quite out of the blue, I was replaced by someone who wasn't qualified for the job at all.

All my future plans and aspirations were completely broken. In another situation I experienced the same. I had a wonderful friendship when suddenly someone else entered the picture and stole my friend away.

I experienced once again how much it hurts whenever our joy, wishes, or happiness is crossed. Whether we must relinquish a position we enjoy or someone we love, each time our ego dies a little. But then I made a discovery, which I'd like to pass on to you.

Everything comes from God, who is our Father. Therefore, it's not people who oppose our hopes, our wishes, and sometimes our best intentions. It's God.

However, the matter doesn't end there. Jesus shows us this truth in his own life. When he hung on the cross, his whole life work seemed to lie in ruins.

But it wasn't really the end at all, even though it appeared to be. In truth, Calvary was actually a new beginning. Therefore, in our lives too, suffering is never the end of the matter.

Later, the Lord gave me a much more enjoyable work, another ministry, which I was allowed to build up. In addition, he also gave me a deep love relationship with Jesus, the friend and bridegroom of our souls. And this made me oh so much happier than the friendship I had lost.

Yes, God is love, and therefore he can't destroy or oppose something in our lives and just leave it that way. Love's aim is never only to destroy. Rather, when God must chasten us sometimes or smash something in our lives to pieces, he only does so in order to build something better and more wonderful.

Whenever the plans and hopes of your life are frustrated, learn to recognize Jesus' love behind it. It is his way of purifying you, of purging you of the sins in your life, the false drives and the bondages to people and the things of this world. And then, God can give you something far greater and far more wonderful, his love.

Yes, in this way, dying will lead you into the most blessed life there is, life in and with Jesus. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N-W.

If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please contact this radio station for our postal address. God bless you.