November 19th, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
It Came to Pass
A Sunday School class was asked the question, “In your time of discouragement, what is your favorite Scripture.¨ a young man said, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want Psalm 23:1.¨ a middle age woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.” Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. John 16:33-35.”
Then old Mr. John, who was 80 years old with head of white hair and dark black skin, stood up and said with as much strength as he could muster, “and it came to pass, 85 times in the Bible.”
The class started to laugh a little thinking that old Mr. John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him. When the snickering stopped, he said, “At 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I would make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65 she died. I still miss her today. The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered, ‘where was God?’ But each time I looked in the Bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, ‘and it came to pass.’ I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.”
While, Mr. John was not a particularly great theologian, he certainly had a proper perspective on life and dealing with life’s setbacks. He, like Joseph, understood that difficult, heart breaking circumstances, were no indication of the presence and faithfulness of God. Instead, they were opportunities to lean on God and trust in his ability to carry us through the struggle to the glory God has reserved for us.
Joseph was a man with setback after setback, yet he knew that God was still there. A time would come when God would reward his faithfulness in ways beyond his wildest expectations. Each struggle “came to pass.”
The same is true for you and me. We meet discouragements on a regular basis. There is nothing wrong with allowing ourselves to hurt, but we must let ourselves wallow in the pain. We must turn the problem over to God and let him free us from a life of discouragement. As life moves on you will know that “it came to pass.”
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jon
It Came to Pass
A Sunday School class was asked the question, “In your time of discouragement, what is your favorite Scripture.¨ a young man said, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want Psalm 23:1.¨ a middle age woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.” Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. John 16:33-35.”
Then old Mr. John, who was 80 years old with head of white hair and dark black skin, stood up and said with as much strength as he could muster, “and it came to pass, 85 times in the Bible.”
The class started to laugh a little thinking that old Mr. John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him. When the snickering stopped, he said, “At 30 I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I would make it. At 40 my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50 my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60 my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65 she died. I still miss her today. The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered, ‘where was God?’ But each time I looked in the Bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, ‘and it came to pass.’ I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.”
While, Mr. John was not a particularly great theologian, he certainly had a proper perspective on life and dealing with life’s setbacks. He, like Joseph, understood that difficult, heart breaking circumstances, were no indication of the presence and faithfulness of God. Instead, they were opportunities to lean on God and trust in his ability to carry us through the struggle to the glory God has reserved for us.
Joseph was a man with setback after setback, yet he knew that God was still there. A time would come when God would reward his faithfulness in ways beyond his wildest expectations. Each struggle “came to pass.”
The same is true for you and me. We meet discouragements on a regular basis. There is nothing wrong with allowing ourselves to hurt, but we must let ourselves wallow in the pain. We must turn the problem over to God and let him free us from a life of discouragement. As life moves on you will know that “it came to pass.”
Happy Thanksgiving,
Jon
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