God is still God

A further reflection on "I will be OK"

Tonight, I was talking to a mom in our church whose family is truly suffering what I consider an immense amount of hardship right now. As she was sharing some of what is going on in her life, I was thinking to myself, "God, how much do you heap on to one family at a time?" My heart hurt for her family and for her. She wants to be strong and tries to be strong, but she doesn't feel strong. She said she is weary. She said she wonders what she might be doing wrong. Oh, my heart was so sad to hear this. Remember Job?

Job says, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Matthew says, "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego say, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

I've been facilitating an Experiencing God group on Sunday nights. Blackaby talks about evaluating our situations and circumstances against the backdrop of the cross. Meaning the truth is Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I guess what I understand and what I've learned is that it matters the perspective we have and the questions we ask. We are tempted to look at our distressing times and blame ourselves, or others, or we are tempted to ask God what we have done or are doing wrong, or what we need to learn so we can hurry up and get out of the situtation. What I am getting is that it's not so much "God, what is the lesson I need to learn to get out of this distressing situation" as much as it's about "God, help me to desire your will. I am doubting, I am scared, I am angry, etc. Please help me to have the strength to trust you." To look at these situations from a perspective that says here is an opportunity for God to reveal himself to me in an even greater way.

Other thoughts:
Tressie, a woman in our EG group shared a really great word picture tonight. She often reminds us in our discussions to value the growing process. To be OK with those times that we are often anxious to move past, the times that are maybe just uncomfortable, or maybe those times it feels unbearable. Often, these are the times we tend to judge ourselves or others harshly.

Her word picture related to the struggles we face in surrending ourselves to God's will. She said it's like a tot running out into the middle of the street with an oncoming car. We grab the child by the arm and pull them to safety. In the process, because the child has only a limited understanding of the situation, they protest our rescue. She is left to deal with her emotions. She must work through her anger and grieve her loss and trust that I know what's best for her. I could see things about the situation she couldn't. But, maybe in time, as she grows, she begins to understand why she was pulled out of the street so abruptly.