God is our Hope
The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18 CSB)
Life isn’t fair. Did you guys know that? I can’t remember the exact moment that I realized it, but I remember it’s been a long time. And, while I think the phrase in itself is cynical and not altogether useful, I do think there’s some merit to it. There is no point in the Bible or history that God has told us that things would be hunky-dory. There’s no verse that says life will be fair just because we believe in Him, the Bible literally tells us otherwise.
Instead, amid a week where I have struggled with the unfairness of this pregnancy, my husband taught the kids about this verse in Psalms. He taught the kids that we are never truly alone. Even if we feel like it, even if we physically are on our own, we are never without our Lord God.
Have you ever been brokenhearted, reader?
I remember the first struggle my husband and I had in our marriage. We were a little over a year in and had just broken ground on a corner lot in the town he worked in. We were ready to move our whole lives to this town I didn’t even know existed before adulthood. And on that day, this exciting day, he calls me. They shut down his program, he doesn’t have a job this coming school year.
Spoiler alert, before we delve too much into feelings, God closed that door to open an even better door for us and we are eternally grateful! But, in that moment? I couldn’t believe what was happening. It wasn’t fair! We had just started the process of moving here. Why would God let this happen to us?!
You’d think, after how many times God has been faithful, we’d learn to stop questioning that, right?
Why does God let hard times happen?
So, fast forward five years, and I’m having the same thoughts. Why! Why my baby? Why my family? Why me?!
Well here’s a secret that isn’t really a secret, dear reader: right now, it doesn’t matter why. If you want a real case study on how little God owes us by way of explanation, read Job. We weren’t there when He built the WORLD. We don’t control the seas or the birds. He does. HE does.
But, do you know what He does care about? Us.
God didn’t make sin come into the world, we did. Humanity made that decision at the very beginning and we have stuck to it like nobody’s business. Sin wasn’t in God’s design for us, but here it is. God does, however, constantly work for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
At the end of the day, hard times are going to happen whether we’re prepared for them or not. But the good news is that we don’t have to love that or even be thankful for the hard times, because we have a very specific job. One that is more important than anything that will happen on this earth because it’s about our forever in heaven. Only by His providence and grace can we use the hard times for this one job.
Glorifying God amid the hard times
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 CSB)
Our job is to glorify God no matter the situation.
Who do you think glorifies God better? Someone who recognizes the depth and difficulty of a situation but still glorifies Him through it? Or someone who blames God and allows the difficulty to swallow them whole?
I am in no way saying to suppress emotions. David, the man after God’s own heart, is a perfect example of an emotional dude. Emotions are a blessing from God! We should allow ourselves to feel them. Be angry. Be sad. Hit a point that you don’t know how to move on, but choose to move on anyway. When we decide to camp out in the big feelings brought on by hard times, we remove God’s plan to work through it. We remove our chances of being a light to those around us.
We lead by example. We lead by showing others the truth of God’s faithfulness and love for His people. We can’t do that while choosing to sit in our depression, or allowing our anger to fester.
God is so good, all the time. God doesn’t stop being good just because we encounter hard times, but instead He allows us the opportunity to share His goodness with those around us.
It’s a pretty important job, right?
I’d like to pray for each of you today, especially as we work through not just personal problems, but the political unrest that makes things even harder than it already is. I hope that you’ll join me.
Dear Lord,
I thank You God for the opportunity to come before You over every little thing. I thank You for Your love for us, and Your eternal faithfulness to Your people. I want to confess that we as humans get things wrong so much of the time, focusing on what we feel is fair, and how we feel life should go. I’m sorry God for imposing my own timeline and plans onto You. I pray for opportunities to seek You first and foremost, even as we struggle with the situations going on in our individual lives. I pray for Your peace over each of these women, Lord, for whatever is going on, went on, or will go on. I pray that You allow us to cling to You as we find our way, and for opportunities to be the light for Your people. You are so good God. In Your Son Jesus’ name. Amen.