God will never discredit you

It's often easy to feel discredited when faced with difficult challenges in our lives. We may feel that we are powerless to change our situation, or that we don't deserve help. However, this passage from Matthew assures us that God will not abandon us in our time of need. He will continue to stand by us and fight for us until justice prevails.

This promise gives us hope in the midst of dark times and reminds us that we are never alone. No matter how broken we feel, God is always with us, working to fulfill His perfect plan.

The broken reed and the smoking candle

He will not break the broken reed, Nor extinguish the smoldering candle, Until he has made righteousness triumph. (Matthew1:20)

When we feel discredited, it seems pointless to continue working. We feel like giving up, because the challenge seems too great. What can we do when this happens? The broken reed and the smoking candle are a metaphor for hanging on and not giving up. There's still hope. We have to fight for something. God won't extinguish that smoldering candle until justice triumphs. So if you feel like you're about to give up, know that God isn't done with you yet. You still have a goal to reach.

As Christians, we're often called to serve in ways that don't match our qualifications. We may be asked to share the Gospel with others when we don't feel we know the Bible well enough. We may be asked to lead a small group when we feel we're not good enough at prayer or scripture study. This can be discouraging, but it's important to remember that God often uses our greatest areas of weakness to show his strength. When we feel incompetent, we can take comfort in the fact that God uses us despite our flaws and shortcomings. He uses us to accomplish His purposes, and He will give us the strength and wisdom we need to answer the call He is making on our lives.

Who would have thought it?

Where is the sage? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this century? Has not God convinced the wisdom of the world of folly? For since the world with its wisdom did not know God in the wisdom of God, it pleased God to save believers by the foolishness of preaching. (1corinthians1:21)

Indeed, since the world, with its wisdom, has not known God in His wisdom, it has pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. The idea of preaching has always seemed so foolish to some. Why would anyone get on a soapbox and try to talk to people who don't want to listen? Especially when it came to telling them about Jesus. It was a waste of time. Surely there must be a better way to get people to believe in something like this!

But no, according to this verse, even if the world - with all its so-called wisdom - didn't understand or accept God's gift of his Son, he was happy to save those of us who simply believed because they heard the "foolish" message of preaching. And that's good news for us, because if we'd been left to our own wisdom, we'd never have guessed that such a simple act could be used by God to change hearts and eternities. Who would have believed it?

Glory to God!