My daughter recently wrote an essay about the death of her boyfriend, Jordan. It happened over three years ago, and yet reading the story brought back a lot of the old emotions. At times like these, the world just doesn't make sense to me. Not that it EVER really makes sense. There are too many things that are unexplainable . . . disease, death, other heartaches. At any given time I can think of a dozen friends who are going through something absolutely heart-wrenching. And I can never understand why people have to go through such things.
But it's kind of amazing, isn't it, that whenever I'm thinking about how the world doesn't make sense, those are the things my mind immediately goes to?
I heard in a sermon one time that God gets blamed for all the bad things, but people don't spend near as much time giving Him the credit for the good. Boy, isn't that the truth? You won't hear me questioning God each morning as to why everyone in my family has awakened healthy . . . or at all. It's not like we've done anything special to deserve such a gift. Why would He let such a thing happen???? And why do I get to have a home? Why is it filled with laughter most of the time? It doesn't make any sense.
But it doesn't seem to bother me that those things don't make sense. That kind of nonsense can continue on 'til the end of time and you won't hear me complaining. So what is it that we're really upset about? It's not that life isn't fair, because a lot of times that works out in our favor. Are we complaining because there's suffering going on at all? Do we expect that there should be no suffering in this world? And, if so, what led us to that conclusion?
The Bible is very clear that we are going to have suffering. It never says that it will make sense to us, so we probably shouldn't expect that it will. But it does say that He will be with us through all of it. It does say He will be our strength. And it does encourage us to hold on to the end, because in the end He WILL overcome. Those are some great promises.
The fact is, and will remain, that we live in an imperfect world. It's not the world it started out to be, and it's not what it will be again someday. But it's where we're at right now. And with this world of trial and hardship (as well as joy and laughter) we have the opportunity to make a lot of choices. It's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
I believe that absolutely every event in our lives gives us an opportunity to prove how deep our devotion really is to God. It's easy to sing the songs, and maybe proclaim in a well-thought-out prayer how we desire to give our whole lives to Him. But it's in our everyday circumstances that we get a chance to live it. Not by pretending the bad things aren't happening, or even that they don't matter. But by choosing to truly BELIEVE that He is with us and He will see us through. It's a chance to depend on Him, to trust Him, and to not let the circumstances have control. And I believe that every single time we do this, we wind up closer to Him than we were before.
Closeness to God . . . it's what makes everything in this life bearable. No matter how bad it is, if we can lean on Him, abide in Him, and become even closer to Him than before, we are victorious. We have won. The world was not able to beat us down, because we let Him be our strength. We let Him be our encouragement. We let His love saturate our whole being.
Satan will continue to try to wear us down. He will try to get us to give up on God. He wants our circumstances to gain control of our lives . . . . . . . .
But can you see God? His arms are reaching out to you. He's calling you near Him, offering His strength. Can you feel His love filling your heart in the midst of your hardship? Can you believe His strength will be enough?
Make the choice. You will never be disappointed.
But it's kind of amazing, isn't it, that whenever I'm thinking about how the world doesn't make sense, those are the things my mind immediately goes to?
I heard in a sermon one time that God gets blamed for all the bad things, but people don't spend near as much time giving Him the credit for the good. Boy, isn't that the truth? You won't hear me questioning God each morning as to why everyone in my family has awakened healthy . . . or at all. It's not like we've done anything special to deserve such a gift. Why would He let such a thing happen???? And why do I get to have a home? Why is it filled with laughter most of the time? It doesn't make any sense.
But it doesn't seem to bother me that those things don't make sense. That kind of nonsense can continue on 'til the end of time and you won't hear me complaining. So what is it that we're really upset about? It's not that life isn't fair, because a lot of times that works out in our favor. Are we complaining because there's suffering going on at all? Do we expect that there should be no suffering in this world? And, if so, what led us to that conclusion?
The Bible is very clear that we are going to have suffering. It never says that it will make sense to us, so we probably shouldn't expect that it will. But it does say that He will be with us through all of it. It does say He will be our strength. And it does encourage us to hold on to the end, because in the end He WILL overcome. Those are some great promises.
The fact is, and will remain, that we live in an imperfect world. It's not the world it started out to be, and it's not what it will be again someday. But it's where we're at right now. And with this world of trial and hardship (as well as joy and laughter) we have the opportunity to make a lot of choices. It's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
I believe that absolutely every event in our lives gives us an opportunity to prove how deep our devotion really is to God. It's easy to sing the songs, and maybe proclaim in a well-thought-out prayer how we desire to give our whole lives to Him. But it's in our everyday circumstances that we get a chance to live it. Not by pretending the bad things aren't happening, or even that they don't matter. But by choosing to truly BELIEVE that He is with us and He will see us through. It's a chance to depend on Him, to trust Him, and to not let the circumstances have control. And I believe that every single time we do this, we wind up closer to Him than we were before.
Closeness to God . . . it's what makes everything in this life bearable. No matter how bad it is, if we can lean on Him, abide in Him, and become even closer to Him than before, we are victorious. We have won. The world was not able to beat us down, because we let Him be our strength. We let Him be our encouragement. We let His love saturate our whole being.
Satan will continue to try to wear us down. He will try to get us to give up on God. He wants our circumstances to gain control of our lives . . . . . . . .
But can you see God? His arms are reaching out to you. He's calling you near Him, offering His strength. Can you feel His love filling your heart in the midst of your hardship? Can you believe His strength will be enough?
Make the choice. You will never be disappointed.
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