God never gives advice! Advice is something we can accept or reject. God tells us what to do. All too frequently we treat God’s Word as advice – something to be accepted or rejected according to how we happen to feel.

A clear-cut command such as, “Do not steal,” is easier to receive as a permanent, all-inclusive order for everyone to follow. But a command such as: Give thanks always for all things (Ephesians 5:20) is easier for us to treat as “advice.”

“God has good intentions, but He doesn’t understand my circumstances.” The man who has no bread to feed his family might easily decide that stealing is a reasonable alternative to letting his family starve. But if he is thinking like that God may not be able to show him how he could solve his problem.

If we have in the back of our minds the idea that God may not always make everything work for our good, we will find ways to complain, or to be discouraged. Our flesh will shout “Amen” to all our complaints. It wants us to disregard God’s promise. After all: For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature (Galatians 5:17 NIV).

The flesh (our sin nature) does not like the Holy Spirit’s ways, because the Spirit always wants to obey God. Our sin nature can always find some excuse to disobey Him and complain. We like to believe that in our particular situation God is not working for our good (see Romans 8:28).

If we have physical or emotional pain, we want to center all our prayers on “God, make me well. God, stop this pain. God…where are You?” God promises to meet all our needs (see Philippians 4:19) but then He wants us to obey God’s command to rejoice always (verse 4). Satan wants to use suffering to defeat or discourage us. But suffering can always be used by God to strengthen us.

It’s a little like gravity. If we aren’t careful, gravity can pull us to the ground in a painful crash. However, as we learn to resist the force of gravity, we develop muscles when we stand up and walk.

Suffering, worry, sorrow – all kinds of problems – can cause us to crash in discouragement. But if we learn to believe that God is using each situation for our good, we will grow in spiritual strength. The more determined we become to be strong in our spirit, the less effect our fleshly nature has on us. We learn the secret of what Jesus meant when He said in Luke 6:23: Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy; for great is your reward in heaven…

Believe God is working for your good in your present situation. Believe more tomorrow than you do today. God will reward your obedience. One day we will understand why He chooses to work something good out of all our problems, rather than to change situations the way we think He should.

For now, we will do well to know that God does not give us advice – He tells us what to do and then abundantly rewards our obedience. Oh, how abundantly God rewards!

(Reprint from July 2015)