God's Not Done

Have you ever had a bad week?

You know, one of those weeks in which it seems that the bad news and bad experiences don't quit coming your way?

Most of us have. Sometimes it lasts longer than a week. Sometimes it seems that it will never end. Sometimes it seems that the bad news just keeps piling up.

Pain. Sickness. Death.

Laid off. Fired. Unemployed.

Marital stress. Separation. Divorce.

Strained relationships. Anger. Broken relationships.

It's easy to think that all these events are stacking up against you.

That God has forgotten you.

That God will never be able to use you again.

Ephesians 2:10 has been encouraging to me this week.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has prepared in advance that we should walk in them."

Verses 8 and 9 are very familiar, telling us of the grace of God that has saved us. The gift of faith that we have received making us alive and seated in heaven with Christ.

But when the reality of life starts to overwhelm us, those verses sometimes get clouded, buried in the fog of stress.

As a child of God we can take confidence in the promise of verse 10. God has saved us to do good works. God has planned those works in advance. Long before the sickness that has restricted you to bed. Long before the divorce changed everything in your life. Long before any of the stress factors in your life came into your life.

God had a plan. And it wasn't a plan that lasted until some major event came and changed it.

That crisis is a part of God's plan to continue using you.

Others may have rejected you. God hasn't.

He's still got a plan to use you for good works. He hasn't been surprised or had to change His plan.

So, like before the crises, just keep walking. Do the good things that you know you should be doing.

The situation may not change. But God is not done with the good works that He has planned for you.