Hey Everyone!
Hope you are having a fantastic week!
So, this last weekend I lost someone very dear to me. One of my dearest friends lost her precious Mom - who was very dear to many.......
As a group of of us sat around at my friends home the night of this enormous loss, we began to discuss how in the midst of hard stuff -great things can happen. A lot of us have seen that. I have experienced it in my own life. Through difficult things come profound lessons. Life changing lessons. I think I used to get worked up about a lot of things that now......well......just don't seem all that worth getting worked up over. Traffic, running out of butter, something in the dirty clothes that I wanted to wear, someone's late, waiter gets my order wrong.....well, all those things just don't seem like that big of a deal.
I love the sermon series in Cornerstone right now. I think that Paul is right -through our problems we gain amazing perspective - and some of life's greatest lessons.
The question that came up is......where do those problems come from?
One friend, who spoke up, thought for sure that God gives us all those things to teach us a lesson. I had a hard time with this....
So.....let me get this straight.......Tova needed to learn perspective so God shattered her life with broken dreams, illness, suffering, loss???
What kind of God is that?? And why would I believe in Him??
And then how on earth do we explain the millions of people that encounter difficulties and end up bitter, angry, hurt, resentful, jealous?? Did God give that trial to the wrong person?
Here is what I know. The Bible in 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. God loves his children. I think that through difficulties in life - because we live on earth - in an imperfect world, full of imperfect people- comes a choice. I think that choice is to praise God and grow stronger in spite of it - or make excuses and live a life of despair and hopelessness because of it. I don't think God gave it to us - but He's absolutely the only one who can see us through it.
Wednesday, August 31 is the 8th anniversary of the death of my precious son Charlie. God - through His amazing love- has seen me through the darkest of nights to show me the brightest of days. I live to praise His name because I believe that His amazing love is the very thing that has seen me through - and continues to every single passing day. He didn't give a disease to my son to teach me, or my husband or my family or friends a lesson. But......praise His holy name we learned one in spite of it.....and here it is.....
God is good. All the time. And all the time......God is good.
He knows you. He loves you. And no matter what this life gives you........I promise you his love is big enough to hold you through it. Use those things to strengthen you - refine you......make you better.......in spite of it. Never worse off - because of it.
I love you. Always will.
T
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