No one goes through their life untouched by hardships. The way we handle those times is telling about who we are and where our strength lies. As Christians, our strength comes from God. When life hits so hard we don’t know how we’ll take our next step, He picks us up and carries us through it. He never abandons us and He works all things for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
Remembering these facts about God during times when we are suffering, sometimes feels like a war. The pain, combined with the knowledge of a loving, all-powerful God, seems counterintuitive. However, the Bible tells us clearly that the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5). In Isaiah 55:8 it also states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
We look at everything with human eyes and limited understanding. God is both omniscient and omnipotent. We can’t even begin to understand His thinking. He is full of grace, righteousness and compassion. (Psalm 116:5)
I have had a lot of rough times in my life and even a few tragic ones. I’ve had my entire life ripped away from me when I learned that my marriage was nothing that I thought it was. I couldn’t see how any of the things that were happening to me could ever be used for good. The pain was, and sometimes still is, overwhelming and deep. My world was forever changed and I was left empty and broken. I had no idea how my life would ever be worthwhile or helpful to anyone. I was trapped in a world where I was nothing and I had nothing to give.
But God has other plans. He is healing me. The last four years have been beyond difficult. However, I am beginning to see how He rescued me from so much more that could have happened. I am realizing that there is a strength and confidence in me that I never knew I had and would probably never have been able to realize had my life kept going down the original path.
Recently, God helped me to realize some of the “good” He had planned from my experience. A woman in my Bible study had learned that her marriage had gone down a similar path in some ways as mine. She was struggling with the lies that had been told to her and the circumstances surrounding her marriage issues. God allowed me to speak truth into her life and give her some advice. My pain and experience along with what I had learned in the
It was made clear to me that some of the good that is meant to come is often not just for us. I believe He sometimes allows things to happen in our lives because He knows we can speak into the lives of others who are going through similar circumstances. Nothing we go through is wasted on God and He always gives His best for His children.
~ Joanna Lynn
