Every day, there is another story on the news that raises doubt in people about the character of God. We endure hardship, we suffer loss, we feel pain, and our first question is often,
“Where is God in this?"
John 16:33 says, "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world."
He promises trial. He promises that it isn't going to be easy. If He left it at that, we would have reason to question, but He didn’t.
"Take heart," he says. Take [HIS] heart, everywhere you go, through every season. Every tribulation and trial is made better in Him. It is the kindness of God to give us His heart so that we are able to overcome the world that we messed up in the first place.
The promise that God comes in and walks through hardship with us is enough to overpower our fear of trial. However, we must be willing to seek him in the hard places in order to recognize his work in that place. Focusing on the trial distracts us from seeing the one who is able to walk through it with us.
"Why do bad things happen to good people?"
This is a common question. The truth?
The worst thing happened to the best person.
Death happened, a painful death, to JESUS - the only person ever to walk the earth without sin.
So that we wouldn't have to walk through life alone.
I've seen death, a lot of it. It has the ability to pull people to Jesus, or to turn people away. People suffer loss, and either seek God's goodness or lose trust in God's goodness. There isn't much in between.
The truth is God will do whatever it takes to bring all people to himself.
He gave his OWN SON to bring you and I into relationship with Him.
Our citizenship is in Heaven, and He wants all people to live with Him, forever.
This morning, He told me -
"On that day, the day I gave my Son, I saw you on this day, and it made it all worth it."
So yes, life isn't easy. It wasn't easy for God to watch His Son die on the cross. "But," he says, "It was worth it, because now, I get to know YOU."
It is an invitation to press in through the hardship, because that is what Jesus died for.
The question is:
"Am I going to focus on the trial and become susceptible to the lies of the enemy, whose goal is for me to turn away and doubt the character of God?
Or will I be willing to seek God, to take [His] heart in the hard times, so that I have eyes to see His glory at work and am able to bring others into that place?
It is a decision we have to make time and time again. The good news is this: God remains in those times no matter what.
It is just a question of whether or not we are able to see him.
