Life is hard, eh? I mean, the catchphrase today is, “God is good,” right? (“God is good all the time; all the time God is good!”) While this is true, God’s goodness doesn’t negate the difficulties of life—and to imply so is to gloss over the pain, sorrow, trials and hardships with an unrealistic and, dare I say, disrespectful attitude. I believe this kind of “Pollyanna” approach is disrespectful to God and it’s certainly disrespectful to the person in pain. It almost belittles the goodness of God, in a way, and it certainly communicates disregard for what the person in pain is going through.

Let me explain.

My brother has just been diagnosed with an advanced, aggressive form of cancer. He’s a believer and He knows God. Still, how do you think he would feel if I called him up with excitement in my voice and said, “God is good!”? Well, I don’t know how he would feel, but if it were me, I would feel like the person on the other end of the phone was clueless to my pain, fear, uncertainty, and the sheer horror of living with such a diagnosis. This type of “support” wouldn’t draw me closer to God, and it wouldn’t draw me closer to this person.

However (you knew there was a “however” coming, didn’t you?!), God is good, and part of His goodness is that He sees what we’re going through. He sees our pain; He sees how we struggle with the pain; He sees our fears, our worries, our concerns—and best of all, He understands. Further, when we are able to be honest with Him about our pain and struggles, when we hand them over to Him, entrusting them to His care, He enters into our pain in a beautiful way, with love, compassion and an indescribable sense of peace.

I’ve been going through a difficult time for a while now. (Haven’t we all?) However, as I have walked with God through this trial, He has been so amazing. He has given me everything I’ve needed and just when I needed it. In fact, I can say with some certainty that He anticipates the waves of difficulty before they even appear on my horizon, and as they come sweeping in He is already there; ready and waiting to cover me with His hand of love, protection and comfort.

His being there for me doesn’t make the waves any less real; but their impact is certainly lessened because of His love, comfort and protection. And through it I grow more confident in Him. Instead of being bowled over by these crashing, crushing waves, I emerge stronger and more peaceful knowing He loves me, He’s watching out for me, and He’s there in the difficulty with me. To be honest, the peace isn’t always immediate; sometimes I flail about in the stormy sea for a while before I am able to release my pain to Him, but when I do, He is there for me and He carries me to higher ground.

So many people have said it I don’t know who to attribute it to, but someone said that if God is able to keep the stars in place and to keep the universe from flying out of control, then what are the troubles of my life to Him? The bottom line is that He is able to handle anything this life throws at me; He is my Defender, my Strong Tower, my Rock. He is my Father, my Counselor, my Friend, my Savior, and He is the Lover of my soul….

Yes, the crushing waves come, but they have no power to destroy me as long as I rest in the hollow of His hand. He is there for me, loving me through them, lifting me up, keeping me afloat…. What a great and kind God He is!

Whatever you’re facing today, call upon the Great God of the universe. Tell Him how you’re hurting or what it is you are afraid of (He knows about it already), and ask Him to give you the faith to believe in Him and to trust Him with your circumstances. Expect Him to be there for you. If He has done it for me, He will do it for you. Why? There’s only one reason I can think of: it’s because He loves you.

Resting in Him, joyfully,
Mary

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17 (English Standard Version)

For further reading: Psalm 91