Morning,
Night,
Time,
Life.
Every second of every minute of every hour is created by our God. He knows us better than we do, and He knows what we deserve and what we don’t. He always has our best interests at heart, of course. He never punishes or rewards without reason. Everything, however, needs a balance.
Newton’s third law of motion, for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. With every action that you make, God creates a reaction. He could reward you, punish you, or challenge you.
Rewards. Everyone wants them, not everyone gets them. God works in the most mysterious ways when it comes to rewarding us. Sometimes, he rewards someone and it might seem as if that person did not deserve their great reward. Other times, when someone works hard and feels as if they deserve an award, God specifically omits it. And at other times, it seems as though God is completely fair, and He gives the reward to the most deserving. All three of these possible outcomes are through the perspective of a person, not God’s. God can tell you much more of the story. He could tell you that the first person who did not seem to work hard enough to earn his reward, really needs it; He knows that the person might be going through a tough time or a tragedy might happen to him soon and so he needs the reward to cheer him up. The second person might be getting tested by God to see how well he will deal with not receiving a reward. God also might be saving a reward for a different time. In the third scenario, the person receives their reward, or so it seems. Only God could tell you if perhaps that award was because He knew the person was in desperate need of a joyful event to lift them up.
Punishments. The assumed antonym of rewards. What most do not understand is that many times a reward is really a punishment. It shows one what he did wrong and warns him not to repeat it. This is one of the biggest gifts from God a person can receive. Just the knowledge that God thinks the person should know what he did wrong and knows that he is able to fix it is a huge compliment. Most people hate punishments and can never think of them positively, but in a world where one is never punished, he will never receive a warning that he has sinned. Punishments are really just rewards in disguise. It all depends on how one views what God gives him.
Challenges. The dictionary definition of the word “life.” Every moment is a challenge, and your reaction to each challenge is what makes you who you are. God sees your every move and knows where you are, and what you are doing at every moment of every day. He knows you better than you do, and He will test you to see your loyalty to Him or other people. He’ll test you on the things that He already knows about you, just to ensure your determination. He has only the best of reasons for every test, yet we still don’t always agree with Him. We don’t always get to understand His reasoning. We only see the hopelessness of the situation He tests us with, not the way the challenge is really helping us. It’s all about perspective. From God’s, we take so much for granted and complain about too much, when all we should really be doing is thanking Him and the ones around us.
Life’s all about God’s tests and our responses to them. If you pass, you will receive harder tests to prove yourself. If you fail, you will get punished, but hopefully you will understand God’s warning before it is too late. And do not be mistaken: God’s tests are only for the best balance in your life.
