by Pastor Ginnie Lunt

And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans. Romans 8:28 TLB

In the midst of the struggle of life I often find myself thinking that things are not the way that they are supposed to be. It seems to be the story of my life that all too often, I get the thing that is broken, doesn’t work or needs a repair. Nothing about me fits the ‘normal’ category. My feet are too wide, my waist is too big, even my eyes don’t focus like everyone else’s so that getting a new pair of eyeglasses is a nightmare. My first crown was a poor fit and 15 years later so is the second one, causing constant difficulty. Healthcare difficulties have been costly and life threatening.  And to make matters worse, I deal with pain which proves to be very distracting to my every day activities.

In my quest to get things right, I realized that I have become a chronic complainer! My words were not always ‘seasoned with salt’ (see Colossians 4:6) but often demanding and bitter. God brought me back to Romans 8:28 and particularly to the word ‘all’. All is very encompassing. You can’t go to a corner that doesn’t include ‘all’. The Bible word translated ‘all’ is used in English as pan. You may be familiar with words like pandemic used recently of the H1N1 virus as it began to travel, infecting major areas of the world or panorama, a wide or encircling view, or Pan American, inclusive of all the Americas; North, South and Central America.

Because of past difficulties I have found myself on the defensive at the doctor’s office and when making purchases, especially large ones. I was pleading with the optician to get the measurements right with my new glasses when I realized how I have been behaving. I finally heard God say “ALL” and realized my sin. I do believe that God is always at work perfecting us and I do believe that each difficulty is an opportunity to trust him again. What I was forgetting (and should know by now) is that God is gracious enough to allow us to repeat a failed test. I am reminded that reoccurring and unresolved circumstances are often tests in which I have struggled and failed to allow the Spirit of God to work out for good.

Like most Americans, I am impatient with such inconveniences as a long wait in line, a delayed order or someone who interrupts me when I am focused on the task at hand. I am beginning to think that inconvenience is rather a tool in God’s hand to produce patience and godliness in my soul.  Impatience feeds off of pride; it says that I am of more worth than another. I am not saying that God takes pleasure in our suffering, but He skillfully crafts “that which was intended for evil” (see Genesis 50:20) for our good both in this physical life and in the maturing of our character. He loves us too much to leave us unperfected.

I have met God’s conditions. I do love God and I am doing my best to fit into the plans that he has revealed for my life and so the treasure hunt begins! How can God bring good out of pain? How will he be honored in the midst of a financial disaster? How will he use my life to bring glory to His name? In the next paragraph St Paul adds: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” 8:31-32 niv

I think that Hannah Hurnard got a glimpse of God’s process. To her constant irritation, the main character in Hurnard’s book, Hind’s Feet in High Places was escorted through life by handmaidens called ‘Sorrow and Suffering’. In the end, when she crossed the Jordan and reached heaven there were companions standing by her side, now revealed to her as ‘Grace and Glory’.

Lord, grant me grace to stop struggling and hand my sorrows over to allow you to make good out of them.

Ginnie (Virginia) Lunt was raised in Saugus, Massachusetts where she married her high school sweetheart, Walter Lunt, in 1966. They have three daughters and four grandsons.

Ginnie received a diploma from Zion Bible College (Walter is also a Zion Graduate). After Zion, Ginnie attended Barrington College graduating with BA in Biblical Studies. In 1990 she became an ordained minister. In 2003 Ginnie received a Master of Arts in Urban Ministry from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

From 1985 to 2004 Ginnie served along side her husband as the co-pastor of Second Chance Ministries in Providence, Rhode Island. She has been the director and one of the professors of The New England Foursquare Bible Institute since December of 2001. If you would like to contact Pastor Ginnie, you may email her at: ginnielunt@gmail.com