Even In Sorrow

"Why are you so downcast, my soul, why so troubled within me? Hope in God for I will praise Him again, my savior and my God." - Psalm 42:6

I was with a group of friends tonight and we were talking about how good and generous God is. We talked about how He watches out for us and does so many things for us, and how we're lucky we have the grace to recognize it's Him acting on our behalf. But how about when things aren't going so good? How about when we get the opposite of what we've asked for?

In the story of Job, a wealthy, successful man with many children loses everything in one day. On top of that he became sick with leprosy. When people told him to curse God for allowing it, he replied by asking why we are so quick to accept the good things from God and not the bad? And Job is absolutely correct. If we accept the great things, we need to take the bad with as much acceptance and faith. We need to be people who trust firmly in the Lord. If we take the good and not the bad, are we not saying that we don't trust God with our lives, and don't believe that He's leading us to something that is better down the road? What does it say about our relationship with God if we only know how to accept the good things from Him, and not stick around for the tough times? Aren't we saying that He's wrong in thinking that problems will eventually work out for our good, or the growth of our souls? God knows what's better for us than we do… that's why He's God and we're not. Our relationship with God needs to have its foundation on trust so that the rocky times, which will be many, fortify us, and the good times, which are fewer, may decorate and adorn this house of faith we're building on the foundation. Why is it so hard for us to accept the idea of suffering when Jesus, God's own son, walked to Calvary and was crucified? Then, how do we expect to escape pain and suffering from time to time, too? Yet, in everything, good and bad, we must know that God works for the good of those who love Him, and we must learn to praise Him and thank Him not only when we get the good, but especially when we get the bad. There are probably even more blessings in the bad, if we endure, than the joys we receive from the things we think are good.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, engrave in my heart Your Name and Your will. Take away my fear of suffering, of being scared. Show me that just as I enjoy the good things that You give me, I will also profit from the pain You allow to come my way. Let me never doubt You, get angry or abandon prayer, but help me to be patient to see the gifts You are preparing for me through suffering. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.