Today life kicked me in the gut. I found out that a person, who I consider a friend, is sick with cancer. This person has such a beautiful spirit, basically, she doesn't deserve to have this disease (not like anyone does though). It makes a person ask why? Why God? Why her? When she has been through so much in her life only to arrive..here. It brings tears to my eyes. People ask me, how can God do something like this if He loves us? After all, I'm the Christian girl. I feel I should have an explaination. A verse or two that would explain it all. That would wipe away all the tears, clear everyone's unanswered questions. But alas, I do not. All I can say is that God is love. God is hope.
Perhaps it's times like these that force even those who don't normally seek His face to come closer, if only to raise an angry fist. God does not get his "jollies" by striking young people with cancer. You have the wrong guy, that guy lives down south.
I don't know why this has happened, nor why bad things happen to good people. I know that there is a plan beyond our immediate sights, that God is soveriegn. That God has a plan and purpose for this world, for his people. Sometimes we go through trials to establish our faith and belief in Him and His power. Sometimes trials happen that strengthen faith. A trial that makes a person go through the trenches with God, but come out on the otherside a changed person. And sometimes it's just that person's time to meet Him. Now, the last statement doesn't automatically calm or ease the pain and grief for the person's family as swiftly as total deliverance from the disease. But if you are a Christian you have to know that this life is not all there is, what comes next is the real deal. It's called hope. We have a hope that our prayers will be anwered, that all will be well. But we also have the hope in knowing that we have an eternal inheritance with Jesus after this life.
Another good friend has recently been in the trenches...for awhile. She has faith. She believes. I can almost see her yelling at the sky "Alright already, I have faith, what more do you want?!" She loves the Lord fiercely. And He knows it. Sometimes I picture God with a shield in front of us as satan throws his best punches...what we felt was nothing to what we could have felt if God wasn't there. She says she knows God is telling her to have faith through all this. She has asked what that really means: "have faith". Should she just do nothing to guard or protect herself or her belongings? No, I'm thinking that to do nothing would be silly. I feel God is refining her...polishing her faith of silver into faith of gold. Because to have faith before or after trials is commendable, but to have faith in the midst of the storm is worship!
We all have a history. That history gave rise to who we are today, good or bad. I believe how we face our trials in life speaks to how we live life now..do we celebrate our lives now, or do we mourn them? Does your life give glory to God? Because I'm sorry to say, that that is what life is about. It's when we try to glorify ourselves that we become empty and lost. What is a good life? To be loved, to have love, to give love.That is what God has planned for us. Many of us have been abused...physically, emotionally, sexually. And that is NEVER part of God's plan..you hear me? NEVER! God IS love. In a perfect world (which one day there will be) we would never encounter such sin, but sin exists in this world and it pollutes people and their actions. How do you deal with it? Do you hate? Do you hate God? Do you hold a grudge? Have you guarded your heart so no one will ever get that close to you again? Stop. Because if you continue satan has won. Everytime you hate, everytime you withdraw farther from your Father, satan laughs and rejoices. Think of that. But if you bring that pain, that deep ache to the Lord, he will heal you and turn satan's victory into a loss. I'm not saying the healing will be instantaneous (or maybe it will), but when you let the light in, the darkness flees. And I'm not saying that the healing won't hurt, because it will. But in order to get the poison out, the wound must be debrided and cleaned so it won't fester.
I have learned many things through my own trials. But the most important thing is that I know that God was with me. That He never stopped loving me.
Often times our worst oppression, our greatest affliction is our finest chance to show the most light to others. How many people who have been sick or have had a loved one who was sick become a nurse or a doctor? How many people who have recovered from addictions in the past become addiction counsellors? It's all up to how you face your demons...do you fight them or join them?
Praise You in This Storm Video
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