Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Peter 2:11-12
Life can throw the most severe tests at us -while our friends and associates look on- to see whether our faith is in what is seen or what is unseen. When we stand firm in the test, God is glorified.
Monty Williams is the assistant coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team. He is also, as of last week, a widower. His wife Ingrid was tragically killed by the driver of a car going the wrong way, doing 90 miles an hour in a 40 miles per hour zone. They’re a fine Christian family; this death “makes no sense.” Monty is now the only parent to raise five children.
Given all this, what could this grief-stricken man possibly have to say at the memorial service that could make sense of it all? Believe it or not, he actually quotes Romans 8:28! Of course we know that verse is true, but it’s considered bad taste to quote it to a person in a time of tragedy. Listen to this man testify of the goodness of God with millions looking on. God will be glorified, no question.
This Sunday, Dave Talley will be preaching about our sinful desires and the war that is being waged. Winning that war makes all the difference in standing firm. Not only does it have an impact on our eternal destiny, the world is watching, and will be drawn into the gravitational pull of our Savior as a result.