My son has officially graduated from High School and we have been on a graduation party blitz for sure. I’ve run into so many people that I don’t normally see and it has been nice to catch up with them. They ask me what my sons’ plans are for the future. I proudly tell them he is going to WSU (Washington State University) in the fall. They then say…Wow that is wonderful good for him, etc….and then the next question out of their mouths always is…..What are you going to do with yourself when he is gone? I kinda stumble on that one. And then I say the truth….Ummm, I don’t know. It’s funny to see their reactions…some look at me sadly, some laugh at my frankness, and some look at me confidently like….I know you will be Ok. And that is how I truly feel. I will be Ok. But life will definitely be different. Time will tell and I have no choice but to trust God and see where He leads me in my life.
The last few days I have been asked two very hard questions by two dear friends. One asked me…Why do bad things happen to good people? And the other friend asked….Why does life have to be so hard? Those are two doosies of a question aren’t they? Life….it is hard. Life…..it is so not perfect. Life……it can bring you to your knees at times. But I’ve learned that is not such a bad place to be.
Tonight at a graduation party I went to, I talked to a dear friend I haven’t seen in awhile. She is amazing and it was so nice catching up with her. She has a son with a severe form of Muscular Dystrophy. She was telling me how it is getting harder and harder for him to walk and they had to put ramps at their home because he will probably need a wheelchair soon. With tears in her eyes she told me she KNOWS God will use everything her son is going through for good somehow and God has given her peace even though his condition is deteriorating. All I could do is hug her through my teary eyes and agree.
I have another friend who’s college aged son has turned away from God. He has decided he is an atheist. This fact torments my friend. Her worst fear is that he will die not knowing Jesus as his Lord and Savior. I have another friend who’s husband has decided he’s not in love with her anymore after 20 some years of marriage. She doesn’t know what to do. Life is SO hard! I could go on and on with more stories about dear friends truly hurting.
And then you ask…. Why? What’s the point of all this hurt and heartache? And truly the only thing that popped up in my head when asked these two very hard questions is…. Everything that happens in our lives good and bad is to make us more like Christ. He wants us to seek out His help in our lives.
Unfortunately, if life was perfect and easy all the time we probably would have no need to go to God. (Although I wouldn’t mind testing this theory out for awhile. ha!)
It says in 1 Peter 1:7 These trials come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proven genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. In the New Century Version it says in verse 7... These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. God wants us to cling to him in hard times. God is refining us. God wants our faith to be pure.
I know personally my relationship with God has always strengthened and grown through my hardships. Those are the times I have clung to my Bible and prayed the most diligently. I have learned God’s promises are true.
Through the years I have known some really bad things happen to really great people and at the time it has made no sense. But as time has gone by I have been able to see how God has used it for good in them. My prayer is that God is doing that in me and in you too.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t know that anyone can entirely answer those two questions. Like I said, They are doosies but I know when Bad things happen and life get’s REALLY hard, God will always be there for you. God says…. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Seek him. Be real with your friends and family and let them pray and bare the burden with you. We all are in this together friends.
Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.
So I know I did not really answer those tough questions but I am so thankful to know that God is in control of my life and no matter the hardship I face He will always be by my side. Which is a great comfort to me….because life IS hard! And in the end I want to be proven faithful…and my faith made pure. He is by your side too. Don’t be afraid of Life…God never promised us it would be easy. He only promises we won’t go it alone.
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