Divine Difficulties

I don't know about the rest of you, but my week has been pretty hectic and challenging. My mother fell and broke her femer. Recuperating has been tricky for her since she has previous injuries (many!) which already diminish her strength and balance. She is so frustrated and discouraged it breaks my heart. I wish I could do more for her. It is hard. Life can be hard.

I was talking to my dad about this at the hospital and he was expressing his frustration that God doesn't seem to protect us. It makes us feel like he is weak, impotent and uncaring at times, but that is not the truth. I am not down on my dad for expressing this thought/feeling. I certainly have struggled with it many times. We all do on a daily basis. Let's get real here, no pretenses or false super-faith. No posers allowed.

I appreciate my dad for being honest and bold enough to speak truthfully about his feelings. But our feelings are not fact. Faith is not based on feelings. The truth is the truth and it never changes. Jesus is the truth and He never changes. There are no good days for God or bad days when he is asleep at the wheel. God never sleeps. He always cares and He is always powerful...more than we could ever imagine. Thank God that He is also always patient, forgiving and slow to anger.

With that stated, why do we endure hardships if we have a good, powerful God who loves us? Well, for one thing "Free Will" comes up again. He loves us enough to give us a choice of free will. Love is a choice, not a feeling. Without a choice we cannot love. We would just be robots. No, God loves us enough to give us a choice so that we can truly love him if we choose to do so. We can follow him and his ways or follow our own. There are always consequences involved. These consequences of our sin affect not just ourselves, but everyone around us. The fall out and damage it leaves behind is like a ripple affect that keeps moving out in ever widening circles.

But my mom's accident, for example, wasn't due to anyone's sin or carelessness. She was being careful and it wasn't anyone's fault. Sometimes things just happen. Why? I don't really know. Only God knows. I don't believe he causes them to happen, just like he doesn't cause sin to happen either. But he does promise to use everything for His good purposes, to bring good out of it and to be with us every step of the way. He will never leave us or forsake us. Even Jesus, the prophets and the great heros of the bible endured hardships and death. Why would we be excluded?

Why would God allow bad things to happen? We may never get an answer to that. Not until heaven at least. But do believe that He will use them. Not one of our tears is wasted or forgotten. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would not be the person I am if life hadn't involved some struggles. If life was always easy what would I learn? How would I grow? When would I ever notice that I need God and Jesus? When would I ever be motivated enough to move out of myself and my little comfort zone, my shallow, small, self-involved little world? Never. Not on my own. I would never be in need or have the opportunities to experience miracles. I would totally miss seeing blessings and provision. My God would be me. SCARY!

No, I have to say that I have never grown in times of plenty (well, maybe physically...putting on a few pounds, but not spiritually). I can only become the person God made me to be by working through the difficulties that come with life. Without divine difficulties we would all be stagnant and stagnant water is not healthy and can be dangerous, even deadly. God knows this. He knows us well, better than we know ourselves.

Besides that, living life all safe (which I admit I live for security with my anxiety prone cycles)would make us comotose. Would that really be living? We have to know pain in order to know pleasure. As much as I hate to say it, pain can be a blessing. It wakes us up, signals danger and motivates us to change and do something...to move.

So, in our times of struggle, let's not struggle with God. Reach out to him and cling to him. He is there and waiting. Let him walk through the desert with you, carry you if needed. Don't doubt his goodness and love for a minute. If you feel yourself waning, read his word, his promises and speak the truth. Drown out the lies of the enemy. Drown out your fears and replace them with His Truth. Nothing can stand up to His Truth, not our fears, not lies, not doubts, not anything. Our God is good and he loves us. That is always true!!!