“The kingdom of God is the kingdom of life, health, beauty, salvation, and freedom (to name just a few of its qualities). The enemy of the kingdom, whom the Bible refers to as Satan, is always attacking that life, that health, that beauty. He attacks spiritual freedom. He wants us to be paralyzed. His relentless attacks are why things are not the way they are supposed to be—yet. But in the midst of all the tensions of life, the kingdom of God comes crashing in. It usually crashes in quietly, though.
…God has this amazing judo move that He uses to attack the kingdom of darkness. He causes all things to work for good to those who love Him, the Bible says. God takes what is meant for evil and turns it for good, if we trust Him at those times and embrace His sovereign goodness even in the midst of our pain and loss. The good He works for us will be a foretaste of the ultimate restoration that will occur when His kingdom comes in all its fullness. It doesn’t make the cost of death less real. But it shows a way through.”
~ Excerpted from This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley
The older I get the more I come to realize that every season of life is a new shade of learning to trust God’s “amazing judo move.”
What are you needing to trust Him with today?
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© Richard Alvey and iLife Journey, 2013. All rights reserved.
A ragamuffin in awe of God's grace and glory... pursuing real life in Jesus.
I love that amazing Judo move He does. It made something beautiful out of my wreck of a life! He’s awesome that way.
\o/
This is great. I love this explanation: “The good He works for us will be a foretaste of the ultimate restoration that will occur when His kingdom comes in all its fullness.” Really helped me to reflect on it today as I face a few of those kinds of ‘life attacks’…
That is powerful imagery. So glad it was an encouragement to you Ali!
Hi Rick, I am catching up on posts. I am glad I caught this one!
Hi Pieter! Thanks for stopping by!