Life if not always easy and we can face trails from minor day to day obstacles to life threatening dangers. Things like depression, loneliness, disease, war and sadly in today’s society marital break downs. Whatever the cause it can feel like you are surrounded on all sides, by pain and hurt, and where is the escape and where has the hope gone. Even to the point of cursing God and blaming Him, I know, I have done that, right up to asking “Where is God when I need him?“. Going as far as saying God can’t love me if he is letting me go through all of this, a loving god would not do this to me.
This is such a natural and human state of mind, when trouble strikes we default to thinking only of ourselves and draw away from the big picture. With thoughts like “Why Me”, “It’s not fair”, or even “God’s picking on me”; and of course we loose hope and sink into despair shutting God out, and Satan’s lies reign in our mind. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12).
But, as I have said again and again in my previous Blogs. How do we resist the lies? With the truth, of course! God really does love us, From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 the Bible tell us this over and over again. He loves us so much that he disciplines us:-
Hebrews 12:4-14 (this quotes the above verses) which, to badly paraphrase, tells us in our struggle against sin to endure hardship as discipline, for what loving father does not discipline his children. If we are not disciplined then we are not legitimate children. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but PAINFUL but produces a harvest of righteousness and PEACE. So We rejoice in our suffering because we have hope (Romans 5:1-5).
So we can know, without doubt, that “in ALL things [nice and unpleasant] God works for the good of those who love him”. When life is not easy, turn to God and ask him for strength to endure any discipline for there IS hope for a harvest of righteousness and peace. We also know that we can come to Him and He will gives us rest, his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11: 28-30).
A final point God also says “‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'” (Hebrews 13: 5-6).
God is that good!