How do we reconcile this verse "it's the kindness of God that leads man to repentance", when anything but kindness seems to be our current life circumstance. When our life has hit a difficult place that doesn't make sense to our religious mindset. The tone changes, 'this can't be of God.' And when disaster strikes, our first response is "this is of the enemy".
We're quick to make a judgment call on whether something is of God or not, if it doesn't fit into the guidelines of what we think the kindness or goodness of God should be.
Could it be in our difficulties, that God is actually giving us a greater opportunity to see who He really is, repositioning things to create a benefit for us that isn't yet within our sight.
The life of Joseph is an example of one taken out of comfort into a life of chaos and great distress. He's thrown into a pit, then sold into slavery, with the situation going from bad to worse as he was falsely accused, ultimately sending him to prison. From man's perspective, this has the signature of the enemy all over it. Yet, his final destination positioned him in a place of authority over the entire land of Egypt. So now we see the outcome was for good and not evil.
Once again, we are reminded, this life is not our own. We were bought with a great price and He will fulfill all that He has for us to accomplish while living this life on earth. It truly is a walk of faith and not sight. He says, it won't be according to our understanding or what makes sense to us, how we see it from our perspective, or how it makes us feel.
So God's kindness is intended to turn us from our sin. God's kindness is intended to change our mind and our inner man to accept God's will for our life. Therefore, we may not recognize the kindness of God operating in our life. But, remember this, He is working ALL things for our good.
And in this place, we accept His kindness, and our heart's response is, 'God, I trust you'.
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